IB Geography: Food & Health Revision

Food & Health is a core part of IB Geography. Revise the key concepts and common mistakes below, then lock them in with the free games.

Key concepts

Food securityFAO definition: when all people have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times.

Four pillars of food securityAvailability, access, utilisation, stability.

Dietary Energy Supply (DES)Average daily kilocalories per person available for human consumption in a country.

FamineExtreme food crisis classified as IPC Phase 5, with widespread starvation and excess mortality.

FAOFood and Agriculture Organization of the UN, headquartered in Rome.

Global Hunger IndexComposite measure including undernourishment, child stunting, wasting and mortality.

MalariaParasitic disease caused by Plasmodium spp., transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, killing over 600,000 people annually.

Tuberculosis (TB)Bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, transmitted by airborne droplets, killing about 1.3 million people annually.

PandemicEpidemic spread over multiple countries or continents, e.g. COVID-19 declared by WHO 11 March 2020.

VectorLiving organism, often an arthropod, that transmits pathogens from one host to another.

Herd immunityIndirect protection from infection when a sufficient proportion of a population is immune.

R₀ (basic reproduction number)Average number of secondary infections produced by one case in a fully susceptible population.

UndernutritionInsufficient intake of energy or essential nutrients, leading to stunting, wasting or micronutrient deficiencies.

OvernutritionExcess intake of calories, particularly from ultra-processed foods, leading to overweight and obesity.

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Food & Health

Key concepts

Practise Food & Health — free games

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