The role and fat needs of the average person

Fat plays an important role in building the body's structure: cell membrane structure, support the development of brain, bones, vision, immune system,... Adults have up to 24% fat of total body weight.

Fat is a form of lipid. They include a group of compounds that are soluble in organic solvents and are generally insoluble in water and lighter than water.
Belongs to the group of energy sources, along with carbohydrates, protein, but fat provides the most concentrated source of energy, 1 gram of fat provides about 9 calories of energy, while 1 gram of carbohydrates or protein Provides only 4 calories.
The basic structural unit in fats consists of fatty acids. They are divided into 2 groups as saturated fatty acids, unsaturated fatty acids:
Saturated fatty acids: Palmitic acid, stearic acid, caprylic acid, mainly found in animal fat. Unsaturated fatty acids: Oleic acid, oxalic acid, linoleic acid, alpha linolenic or arachidonic acid. 1.1. Bad Fat Saturated fat This type of fat is often found in animal products such as meat, eggs or dairy products: Ice cream, cheese, whole milk drinks. It is also found from coconut, palm and tree oil preparations; butter, cocoa also have this fat; Even in fast food like french fries,... Providing a lot of energy from this fat causes the body to raise harmful cholesterol and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Trans Fat This fat is often found in processed products such as: Cakes, cookies, frozen foods, fried foods. Providing a lot of saturated fat causes the body to raise harmful cholesterol and triglycerides.
The American Heart Association recommends: should only provide the body with less than 7% of total calories of saturated fat, less than 1% of calories of trans fat.
1.2. Good fat Unsaturated fat This type of fat is often found in seed oils such as: Canola, peanut, olive, avocado, ... or in vegetable oils: sunflower, soybean, etc. corn, sesame, beans and cereals of all kinds,...
Omega-3 fatty acids Omega-3 fatty acids are found in seafood: Mackerel, sardines, salmon,... or in seeds. Walnuts, flaxseeds,...
Many studies show that: If tolerated, replacing saturated fat with this omega-3 acid will minimize the amount of harmful cholesterol, and further reduce the risk of disease. Cardiovascular disease. This fat is very beneficial, especially for young children.

Fat plays an important role in participating in building the body's structure.
Energy reserves The most important role of fat is to store and provide energy for muscles and vital activities of the body. 1 gram of substance contains up to 9 calories while with the same volume, protein and carbohydrates both have only 4 calories.
Fats play an important role in the vital activities of cells, because they are present in the membranes of cells and the membranes of the internal organs of cells: mitochondria and nucleus.
Fat also plays a big role in storing energy, regulating energy and protecting the whole body from temperature changes.
Support absorption of vitamins Fat is a solvent that supports the transport and absorption of fat's vitamins such as vitamins A, E, D, K, ... to supplement the body, these vitamins play a role very important role in the human body such as the body's ability to respond to immunity, vision function, anti-aging,...
Provide essential acids Fats are also a source of nutrients Essential fatty acids that the body cannot synthesize on its own such as Linoleic Acid (omega 6) and α Linoleic Acid (Omega 3). Omega-6 is abundant in vegetable oils such as sesame oil, soybean oil, less in peanut oil Omega-3 is more in fish oils.
Depending on saturation, fats are divided into saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids. In particular, fats from animals include fat, butter has a lot of saturated fatty acids. All of these fatty acids play important roles in maintaining a healthy body.

Fat is an essential source in the diet, however, fat needs are moderate, should only account for 20-25% of energy needs. Different age groups have different age-related fat needs.
Children's fat needs According to the Institute of Nutrition, the Ministry of Health advises on the amount of fat consumed in the daily meal in adults should only be from 18 to 25% of total energy. Children or pregnant women, lactating women are the subjects with the highest need for fat consumption, in which:
Newborns are exclusively breastfed, more than half of Part of the body's energy supply is fat from breast milk, so this group of subjects has been provided with enough fat. If infants under 6 months of age are fed formula milk, it is necessary to ensure that the ratio of energy from fat provides at least 40% of total energy.
For infants over 6 months to 1 year of age, the infant's need for additional fat is up to 40% of the total dietary energy. Children 1 to 3 years old will need up to 40% of total fat calories.
How much fat a day in babies? If based on the general table of fat weight, in every day young children from 7 months to 11 months will need to eat about 35 grams, children 1 to 3 years old need about 55 grams and children from 4 to 6 years old need to eat. Load about 40g.
Adult Fat Needs The amount of fat you should eat depends on how many calories your body needs for weight loss or weight maintenance. It is also based on a person's type and diet.
An average woman needs to eat about 1300 calories per day to maintain and 1000 calories to lose 0.5 kg per week. An average man needs 1650 calories to maintain, and 1300 calories to lose 0.5 kg per week.
However, how much each person should eat depends on many factors such as age, height, current weight, activity level, metabolism and several other factors.

If you're overweight, the American Heart Association recommends that you eat less than 30% of your total calories from fat. So, if your body needs 2,000 calories a day, you can eat up to 65 grams of fat per day.
Fat is one of the essential nutrients to provide the body, but it should only be used in moderation and reasonable so as not to affect the health and nutrition of the body.