Atwater system

Okay kiddo, have you ever seen a car before? You know how it needs fuel to run and move, right? Well, our bodies are kind of like cars because we need energy to do things like run, jump, and even breathe. And just like cars use gasoline as fuel, our bodies use a special kind of fuel called food.

Now, when we eat food, our body breaks it down into different pieces called nutrients. One of these nutrients is called a calorie, which is just a measure of energy. Some foods have more calories than others, like cakes and cookies, but we still need calories to keep our bodies running.

The Atwater System is a way that scientists can figure out how many calories are in different foods. They use a special machine to burn the food and measure how much heat it gives off. That heat is then used to calculate the amount of energy (or calories) in the food.

But it's not just about counting calories, because different foods have different nutrients that our bodies need. So even though a cookie might have lots of calories, it doesn't have the same vitamins and minerals as fruits and vegetables. That's why it's important to have a balanced diet with lots of different kinds of foods.

So, the Atwater System helps us understand how much energy we can get from the foods we eat, but it's still up to us to make sure we're choosing the right kinds of foods to keep our bodies healthy and strong.