Nutrition is the branch of life science that studies way different foods and eating habits meet human needs for proper health and development. Proper nutrition can yield a number of benefits, including longevity, maintenance of healthy weight, improved immune system functioning, prevention of chronic diseases, and quicker recovery from injury and illness.
Nutrition is important for people of all ages, but it is particularly important for mothers and children. Adequate nutrition is essential for mothers to have safe pregnancies, and helps ensure proper prenatal health. After children are born, nutrition is critical to their healthy development, both physical and cognitive.
The study of nutrition includes both the health impacts of diet on individuals as well as the impacts of the food system on populations at larger scales. Thus, nutrition is important to the fields of human health and the life sciences, direct healthcare provision, and even broader discussions of public health and its relation to social and economic development.