Level 1
Nutrition & Health MCQs set 2 for PPSC Inspector Excise & Taxation Everyday Science — 20 solved questions.
Q1. Digestion of food starts from the:
Answer: Mouth
Explanation: Digestion begins in the mouth, where salivary amylase starts breaking down starch and mechanical chewing physically breaks food into smaller pieces, increasing surface area for further digestion.
Q2. Deficiency of Vitamin A results in:
Answer: Night blindness
Explanation: Vitamin A is essential for the synthesis of rhodopsin, the light-sensitive pigment in rod cells; its deficiency impairs night vision, leading to night blindness (nyctalopia).
Q3. A person can survive without food for at least:
Answer: 1 month
Explanation: Humans can survive approximately 3-4 weeks without food, as the body uses stored fat and muscle for energy; one month (30 days) falls within this survivable range.
Q4. The vitamin which is very liable and easily destroyed during cooking as well as storage is
Answer: Vitamin C
Explanation: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is highly unstable and water-soluble, making it easily destroyed by heat during cooking and by oxidation during storage.
Q5. Rickets is caused due to the deficiency of
Answer: Vitamin D
Explanation: Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and bone mineralization; its deficiency in children causes rickets, characterized by soft and deformed bones.
Q6. Which of the following symptoms are most likely to be observed in a person suffering from scurvy? (1) Swelling and bleeding of gums (2) Dry and scaly skin (3) Decreased resistance to cold (4) Soreness of mouth
Answer: 1, 2, and 4
Explanation: Scurvy (Vitamin C deficiency) causes swollen and bleeding gums, dry skin, and mouth soreness due to impaired collagen synthesis; decreased cold resistance is also reported, making options 1, 2, and 4 correct.
Q7. Marasmus is a form of severe malnutrition caused by a deficiency in:
Answer: Protein
Explanation: Marasmus is severe acute malnutrition caused by extreme deficiency of both calories and protein, resulting in severe wasting of muscle and body fat.
Q8. Citrus fruits are considered a rich source of Vitamin:
Answer: C
Explanation: Citrus fruits (oranges, lemons, limes) are among the richest dietary sources of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), which is essential for collagen synthesis and immune function.
Q9. Certain bacteria living in the human digestive system are beneficial because they synthesise vitamin
Answer: K
Explanation: Gut bacteria such as Bacteroides fragilis and some Escherichia coli strains synthesize Vitamin K₂ (menaquinone) in the large intestine, contributing to the body's Vitamin K supply.
Q10. Iron deficiency in human body causes:
Answer: Anaemia
Explanation: Iron is required to synthesize hemoglobin (the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells); iron deficiency reduces hemoglobin levels, causing iron-deficiency anemia.
Q11. Which type of plants cannot prepare their own food?
Answer: Fungi
Explanation: Fungi are heterotrophic organisms that cannot photosynthesize; they obtain nutrients by secreting enzymes to digest and absorb organic matter from their surroundings.
Q12. Food is cooked quickly in a pressure cooker because:
Answer: The boiling point of water is increased
Explanation: Increased pressure inside a pressure cooker raises the boiling point of water above 100°C (e.g., to ~120°C), cooking food faster at higher temperatures.
Q13. The energy value of fats and oils is ____ times more than carbohydrates and proteins?
Answer: 2.25
Explanation: Fats yield approximately 9 kcal/g while carbohydrates and proteins yield about 4 kcal/g each, making fats roughly 2.25 times more energy-dense.
Q14. The human body converts the chemical potential energy of food into:
Answer: Heat energy
Explanation: Through cellular respiration, the body primarily converts chemical potential energy from food into heat energy, with only a fraction converted to mechanical work.
Q15. The protein content of the edible portion of an egg is ______.
Answer: 13.30 percent
Explanation: A whole egg's edible portion contains approximately 13.3% protein, with the white being nearly pure protein and the yolk containing protein along with fat.
Q16. Which among the following vitamins helps in blood clotting?
Answer: Vitamin K
Explanation: Vitamin K is essential for activating clotting factors (such as Factor II, VII, IX, and X) in the coagulation cascade that stops bleeding.
Q17. One gram of carbohydrates gives an energy amount of:
Answer: 4.1 kilocalories
Explanation: Carbohydrates yield approximately 4.1 kilocalories per gram upon complete oxidation, a value established by the Atwater energy conversion factors widely used in nutrition science.
Q18. The process of breaking down food in living cells to release energy in the absence of oxygen is termed:
Answer: Anaerobic respiration
Explanation: Anaerobic respiration is the scientifically accurate choice. The concept tested here is core everyday science for MDCAT, ECAT, and general ability papers.
Q19. Which of the following is an essential constituent of diet?
Answer: Carbohydrates
Explanation: Carbohydrates are the primary and most essential macronutrient in the diet, serving as the body's preferred energy source for all cellular functions.
Q20. Vitamins act as
Answer: Co-enzyme
Explanation: Vitamins function as co-enzymes or co-enzyme precursors, activating enzymes and facilitating biochemical reactions that the enzymes alone cannot catalyze.