CFN-2

Your Food and its

Indira Gandhi Utilisation
National Open University
School of Continuing Education

BLOCK 1
How to Meet the Nutritional Needs of Body 5
BLOCK 2
Assimilation of Food and its Effect on Growth
and Activity 53

BLOCK 3
Nutrition of the Mother and Child 107
BLOCK 4
Nutrition from School Age to Old Age 143

BLOCK 5
Nutritional Status, Food Habits and
Food Misconceptions 185
EXPERT COMMITTEE (ORIGINAL)
Prof. G.Ram Reddy Prof. B.S. Sharma Dr. (Mrs.) Vanaja Iyengar
Vice Chancellor Pro- Vice-Chancellor (Consultant)
IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. (Mrs.) P.R. Reddy Professor Dr. Mehtab Bamji Mrs. Mary Mammen Chief
of Home Science School of Sr. Deputy Director Dietician Dietary Department
Biological and Earth Sciences, National Institute of C.M.C. Hospital, Vellore
SVU College of Arts and Sciences Nutrition Hyderabad
Sri Venkateshwara University, Mrs. A. Wadhwa Lady Irwin
Tirupathi Dr. (Mrs.) Prabha Chawla College Sikandra Road New
(Co- ordinator) Delhi
Dr. (Mrs.) Sumati R. Mudambi W- School of Continuing
163 ‘A’, ‘S’ Block Education
MIDC Pimpri, Bhosari, Pune IGNOU, New Delhi

COURSE CONTRIBUTORS (ORIGINAL)

Course Contributors Dr. Shard a Gupta Languageand Format Editing
Dr. (Mrs.) P.R. Reddy Miss S. Jain Dr. B.N. Koul
(Chief Editor) Dr. (Mrs.) Sumati R. Dr. P.N. Pandit
Prof. of Home Science Mudambi (Editor), Dr. (Mrs.) Anita Taploo
School of Biological and Earth W -163 ‘A’, ‘S’Block MIDC Mrs. Neerja Sharad
Sciences, SVU College of Arts Pimpri’ Bhosari, Pune Miss. Anju Sehgal
and Sciences, SriVenkateswara Miss Rajni Bajaj
University, Tirupathi Mrs. Mahana
Mrs. Deepti Gulati
Mrs. Shalini M. Rao Mrs. R. Sethi
‘Sri Saraswati’ 38, Anand Park, Mrs. M. Sethi
Pune Mrs. Seema, Puri

COURSE REVISION (2014)

Prof. Deeksha Kapur Dr. Geeta Kumari Vetting
Director & Professor in Dr. Pooja Rait Ms. Rajshree
Nutritional Sciences Consultant Jr. Consultant
SOCE, IGNOU,New Delhi SOCE, IGNOU SOCE, IGNOU
New Delhi New Delhi
Dr. (Mrs.) P.R. Reddy
Dr. (Mrs.) Prabha Chawla (Co-ordinator)
Professor of Home Science
School of Continuing Education School of
Biological and Earth Sciences IGNOU
New Delhi
SVU College of Arts and Sciences
Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupath
COURSE REVISION (2021)
Prof Deeksha Kapur Ms Isha Nagrath Dr Ankita Gupta Dr Shalini Kushwaha
Professor Academic Associate Assistant Professor Assistant Professor
In Nutritional Sciences SOCE, IGNOU, New In Nutritional Sciences In Nutritional Sciences
SOCE, IGNOU, New Delhi SOCE, IGNOU, New SOCE, IGNOU, New
Delhi Delhi Delhi

PRINT PRODUCTION
Mr. Rajiv Girdhar Mr. Heman Parida
Asstt. Registrar Section Officer
MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi

December, 2021 (Revised)

© Indira Gandhi National Open University, 1998
ISBN: 81-7091-164-8
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other
means, without permission in writing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.
Further information about the School of Continuing and Indira Gandhi National Open University
courses may be obtained from the University’s Office at Maidan Garhi,New Delhi-110 068.
Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi, by Director,
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COURSE INTRODUCTION

Course 1, we have studied about food in terms of food groups, nutrient

composition and functionality. You have learnt to make a wise choice of a
variety of foods to prepare them in the best manner to retain nutrients, to
make them safe and to enhance their taste and flavor. You have also learnt
about food preservation so that when there is plenty of certain foods during
certain seasons of the year, they can be preserved. We have discussed about
convenience foods and their usefulness in saving time and energy. You are
well aware now that you can prepare and process foods in a variety of ways
to make the meals in the home nourishing, attractive and full of flavour.

In Course 2 we will study as to what happens to foods in our body and its
effects on our health. In this context you will learn about the recommended
nutrient needs of our body and how to meet these needs using the food guide.
You will learn to distinguish the three nutritional states – normal nutrition,
under nutrition and over nutrition. Here we will examine nutrition in different
physiological states of life so that you can make the best choice of foods and
use the best methods to prepare them to meet the nutritional needs beginning
with the pregnant mother and ending with the aged. The importance of
developing good food habits and having the right concepts abot foods will be
stressed in this course.
 CFN-1
You and Your Food
Indira Gandhi
National Open University
School of Continuing Education

Block

1
HOW TO MEET THE NUTRITIONAL
NEEDS OF BODY
UNIT 1
Food, Nutrition and Nutritional Status 7

UNIT 2
Recommended Dietary Allowances for Indians 15

UNIT 3
Daily Food Guide and Balanced Diet 29
Food Groups, Nutrients
and their Functions
BLOCK 1 HOW TO MEET THE
NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF BODY
The three units of this block have been prepared to let you learn more about food,
nutrients and nutrition in the context of the physiological needs of the body and the
recommended dietary allowances for Indians. We derive the meaning of food
from our experiences in the choice and use of it to satisfy our hunger and appetite.
More often than not we select foods based on considerations other than the
nutrient needs of the body, such as traditional beliefs, the cost and prestige value
given to foods. Our concern is that we should be more aware of our nutritional
needs and that we should make a wise choice from a variety of foods available to
us.

In Unit 1 the concepts of food, nutrition and nutritional status are explained.

In Unit 2 of this block we will study about these nutrients as to how much we
need to be healthy.

In Unit 3 of this block focus is on guidelines to meet our nutritional needs

and the use of the daily food guide in the planning of our meals and the
evaluation of our meals in detail. The practical activities in this unit give you
the opportunity to evaluate your own food intake in a day with regard to the
type and quality of foods recommended in the daily food guide. Our intention
is that you should monitor your food intake regularly and maintain your
health.
UNIT 1 FOOD, NUTRITION AND Food, Nutrition
and Nutritional
NUTRITIONAL STATUS Status

In this unit you will study about food, nutrients and their various functions in
the body. You will learn to plan the meals in such a way so that all the
requirements are met and body functions are performed in a desired manner.

Structure
1.0 Objectives
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Food and Its Functions
1.2.1 Physiological Functions

1.2.2 Psychological Functions

1.2.3 Socio-cultural Functions

1.3 Nutrients, Nutrition and Nutritional Status

1.3.1 Normal Nutrition

1.3.2 Malnutrition

1.3.3 Functions of Nutrients

1.4 Let Us Sum Up

1.5 Glossary
1.6 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

1.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• define food, nutrition, nutrients, malnutrition and diet;

• list the functions of food;
• identify the nutrients you get from food; and
• list the functions of various nutrients in the body.

1.1 INTRODUCTION
In the third chapter of Shreemat Bhagwat Geeta there is a line “Anant Bhavati
Bhootanee”, which means “the human being is made from food”. This is a
statement of fact. Everything in your body was once in the food you ate. The
single cell from which you were conceived in your mother’s womb, to your
present size, food has become YOU. This process continues as long as you
live.
Your brain, muscles, your blood and bones are all made from the food you
eat. Food gives you energy and stamina for work. It also gives you emotional
7
How to Meet the stability and security. And don’t forget, the right kind and amount of food
Nutritional gives you the appearance and feeling of radiant good health. This is the result
Needs of Body
of good nutrition.

Scientists are working constantly to increase our knowledge about food and
nutrition, and to find ways to apply this knowledge in choosing the right
foods, so that our body is well nourished.

Figure 1.1: Functions of Food

Perhaps you are thinking how can i do this? This course will tell you how to
do it. Follow it carefully and confidently and you will not only be well fed but
also well nourished.

1.2 FOOD AND ITS FUNCTIONS

Let us understand some of the terms that are used in this context. Food,
8 according to the dictionary, is that which nourishes the body. Food may also
be defined as anything we eat or drink to meet the body’s needs for energy, Food, Nutrition
body building, repair and protection. As we learnt in the introduction, food is and Nutritional
Status
the raw material from which our body is made.

Let us now get acquainted with the major functions of food. As you know
when you are hungry, food not only removes hunger, but gives you a feeling
of satisfaction and renewed strength. But that is not all. You share food to
express happiness, friendship and love. Thus food has many functions in our
lives. You will find the functions of food depicted in Figure 1.1. If you
understand these functions, you will appreciate how they affect our food
intake.

1.2.1 Physiological Functions

As you know, the food you eat becomes you. So the most important function
of food is to build your body. You have experienced this function in your own
life. You may have weighed 2.5-3.2 kg at birth and now you weigh 45 to 60
kg. This growth is the result of the food you ate from birth to adulthood. Now
that you are an adult, the food you eat helps to maintain and renew worn out
cells of your body.

Secondly, food provides the energy, your body needs for all its activities,
voluntary and involuntary. You know that even when you sleep, some of your
body’s activities continue, e.g., breathing, heart beat, digestion, absorption of
food, etc. These keep your body going without any effort on your part and are
called involuntary activities. But the work you do, such as sweeping the floor,
or cooking, or working at the desk, or playing a game of badminton, is called
voluntary activity. The amount of energy you need depends on the kind of
activity and the time you spend doing it.
The third function of food is to regulate all the activities of the body and
protect it from infections. Examples of some of the activities which regulate
the body are given below:
• Beating of your heart
• Maintenance of your body temperature
• Muscle contraction
• Removal of waste from your body, etc.

Apart from these, food also helps to protect the body from various infections.

1.2.2 Psychological Functions

In addition to meeting your physical needs, your food also satisfies certain
emotional needs. These include a feeling of security, love and attention. You
feel secure when familiar foods are served. When a child comes home from
school the mother knows that he/she is hungry and serves snacks. Thus she
gives her attention and expresses her love. As you realise our attachment to
our mother’s cooking is rooted in these emotions.
When you share your lunch with a colleague, you express acceptance and
friendship. If you are amongst friends, you try unfamiliar foods and enlarge 9
How to Meet the your food experience. These are some of the positive aspects of food
Nutritional acceptance.But there are occasions when you are hungry, but are unable to eat
Needs of Body
even a nutritious meal, because the foods are unfamiliar or you are unhappy
or lonely.
You need to understand these aspects about food acceptance, so that when
you plan meals, you will not only think of nutrition, but also of the persons
for whom you plan. You need to maintain a happy frame of mind.

1.2.3 Socio-cultural Functions

You know how important food is in our social and cultural life. We serve
refreshments at meetings and seminars or to visitors to create a relaxed
atmosphere for an exchange of ideas. In most of our festivals and celebrations
we have feasts, which bring the family and friends together. Many times we
use food as an expression of happiness. For example, we distribute pedhas
when one passes examinations, laddus are served in marriage feasts, cakes at
Christmas and birthdays.
In religious functions, we make special preparations to distribute prasad.
Thus food helps to strengthen our social and cultural ties. You will find the
functions of food depicted pictorially in Figure 1.1.

1.3 NUTRIENTS, NUTRITION AND

NUTRITIONAL STATUS
The food you eat consists of a number of chemical substances. These are
known as nutrients.

FOOD PROVIDES YOU THE FOLLOWING NUTRIENTS

• WATER
• PROTEINS
• CARBOHYDRATES
• FATS
• MINERALS
VITAMINS

You will be interested to know that the above nutrients-carbohydrates, fats,

proteins, minerals and vitamins-represent a group or a class made up of many
members. Your body uses these nutrients to produce thousands of substances,
which are necessary for our life, as well as for your physical and mental
fitness. Please do not worry about having to remember each one of these. But
you will certainly appreciate the need to choose your foods wisely, since all
essential nutrients need to be supplied by food to our body.

As you have already learnt in Course 1, Nutrition is a process by which the

body assimilates foods to meet its physiological needs. The state of the body
resulting from the kinds and amounts of food supplied to it is termed as
nutritional status.
10
1.3.1 Normal Nutrition Food, Nutrition
and Nutritional
You can say your nutritional status is normal, if you get all the essential Status

nutrients in correct amounts and proportion to meet your body’s needs. It also
implies that your body has been able to utilise these nutrients in such a
manner as to maintain you in good health. As you are aware, the word health
refers to the state of your body. Good health means that you are not only free
from disease, but that you enjoy physical, mental and emotional fitness.

1.3.2 Malnutrition
You have already understood the term nutritional status. The prefix-mal-
means that which is not desirable. Malnutrition stands for undesirable kind of
nutrition, which results in ill health. It may be caused by too little, too much
or an imbalance of nutrients in the diet. When there is an insufficient supply
of essential nutrients, undernutrition occurs. For example, when small
children do not get sufficient food, they are undernourished. You may have
seen such children, who are small for their age, or are thin and weak.

If the intake of nutrients is in excess of body needs, we refer to this state as

overnutrition. If you observe people, you may find some who are fat. People
who habitually take more food than they need deposit the excess food in the
form of fat. This excess body fat thus stored, is a burden to the body and
affects its function. As you may have realised malnutrition includes both
undernutrition and overnutrition.
The word ‘diet’ needs to be understood clearly, for it can be a noun as well as
a verb. All that you eat and drink is your diet. Thus the word diet, used as a
noun, means food intake. But when you say that you are on a diet or you are
dieting, it means you eat prescribed kinds of foods. As you study further, you
will learn about how to choose foods to meet the needs of your body.

Check Your Progress Exercise 1

1) ‘Food becomes you’. Explain.
……………………………………………………………………………
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2) Define normal nutrition.
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How to Meet the 3) What is a diet?
Nutritional
Needs of Body ……………………………………………………………………………
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1.3.3 Functions of Nutrients

As you know each day we use some of the foods such as wheat, rice, dhal,
vegetables, fruits, milk, eggs, fish, meat, sugar, oils, etc. These different foods
are made up of the nutrients mentioned earlier. Let us get to know the
functions of these nutrients in our body.
Water: Our body contains approximately 60-65 per cent water. Thus you will
realise it is an essential part of our body structure. As you know, water is a
universal solvent. It carries food into the body, helps in the digestion and
absorption of food and ensures elimination of waste from the body. Water
helps to regulate body temperature. It acts as a lubricant in the mobile parts of
our body, such as joints, and prevents friction. You need about 5 to 6 glasses
of water each day. You get it from the water you drink and beverages such as
tea, coffee and fruit juice.
Carbohydrates: Ideally Carbohydrates should provide around 50-60% of
total calories in the diet. The energy content of foods is expressed in calories.
One gram of carbohydrate provides four calories. If you take these in excess
of your body’s need, the unused part is stored as glycogen in the muscle or
converted to fat and stored for later use. As you have learnt in Course-I “You
& Your Food”, the main carbohydrates in our diet are starches found in
cereals, dhals and tubers, sugar from sugarcane and fruits. Apart from
carbohydrates cereals and dhals also provide a large part of the proteins, some
minerals and vitamins.
Proteins: As you know proteins are present in all living tissues - both plant
and animal. Next to water, protein is the most abundant component of our
body. About a sixth of our body weight is protein. Thus you will realise that
the main function of protein is building of new tissues, and the maintenance
and repair of those already built. Further, a number of regulatory and
protective substances (enzymes, antibodies, hormones) in the body are made
from proteins.

The proteins must contribute about 10-15% of the total calories in the diet.
Energy supply is thus a secondary function of your dietary proteins. Each
gram of protein gives four Kcal of energy to your body. Protein is present in
vegetable and animal sources. Among the former, dhals, pulses, nuts and
soyabeans are good sources of protein. Among the latter, milk, fish, egg,
meat, chicken and liver are rich sources. Paneer (channa) and khoa (made
from milk) are also good sources of protein.

12
Fats : The fat (both visible and invisible fat) should provide about 20-30% of Food, Nutrition
calories in the diet. One gram of oil or fat gives nine Kcal of energy to the and Nutritional
Status
body. Please remember that the fats and oils are concentrated sources of
energy. You need fats as a medium for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
You need essential fatty acids, which vegetable oils provide. The oil you use
in seasoning, the ghee or butter used as a spread, and the fat in eggs and meat,
are the major sources of fats in our diet. The oilseeds and nuts you use in food
preparations also contribute some fat. Remember if you take more energy
than your body needs, in any form, be it fats, carbohydrates or proteins, it is
stored in your body as fat.

One calorie is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 litre of
water through 1ºC. The unit used in Nutrition & Food Composition tables is
Kilocalories (Kcal). It is 1000 times the unit of calorie used in Physics.

Minerals: Our bones and teeth need minerals for their formation and
maintenance. Iron is needed for formation of the red pigment in the blood.
Zinc is an essential trace element which is needed for proper growth of
children. Minerals have an important role in the regulation of a number of
body processes, e.g. muscle contraction, nerve stimulation, respiration, etc.
We get the minerals that we need from a variety of foods. For example, we
get calcium from milk and leafy vegetables, iron from leafy vegetables, dhals
and eggs, sodium from salt and other foods and zinc from meat, poultry, fish
and nuts.

Vitamins: We need many different vitamins, for example, vitamin A, B-

complex, C, D, etc. Our body needs these to grow and develop, to help our
eyes, nerves and skin to remain healthy, and to protect us from infections. We
need very small amounts of these vitamins. We get these from a variety of
foods. Where do we get these vitamins? From leafy vegetables, carrots, amla,
guava, masumbi, oranges, dhals, whole grain cereals and eggs.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) List the nutrients provided by food and an important source for each
nutrient.
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2) Water is an indispensable nutrient. Why?
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13
How to Meet the 3) List two functions each of proteins and minerals.
Nutritional
Needs of Body ……………………………………………………………………………
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4) List two functions of fats.
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5) Explain the regulatory functions of food.
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Practical Activity 1

1) Find out your birth weight, present age and weight. Understand how
food helps you to grow.
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2) List the voluntary activities you do.
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1.4 LET US SUM UP

You have leamt that food is the raw material from which your body is made.
Food is made up of chemical components called nutrients. Food provides us
with six major groups of nutrients - water, proteins, carbohydrates, fats,
minerals and vitamins. Nutrition can be adequate or inadequate, depending on
whether the foods consumed provide essential nutrients in correct amount and
14 proportion, or not.
In a balanced diet, 50-60% calories must come from carbohydrate, 10-15% Food, Nutrition
from proteins and 20-30% from fat. Proteins account for about a sixth of our and Nutritional
Status
body weight. Minerals are not only part of our body structure, but are also
important for the regulation of body processes. Vitamins are not only growth
promoters, but also regulatory in nature. Water has many crucial functions in
the body, such as solvent, regulator and lubricant. Physiological,
psychological and socio-cultural are the three major aspects of functions of
food. You need to understand these varied functions so that you will plan
meals with a view to meet these.

1.5 GLOSSARY
Absorption : The uptake of the end products of digestion through
the cell membrane of the digestive tract into the
blood and lymph circulation.
Diet (Dieting) : (Noun)-All the foods eaten and drinks taken (Verb)-
to eat only prescribed foods.
Digestion : Mechanical and chemical breakdown of food to
simple substances which can be absorbed and used
by the body cells.
Elimination : Removal of unwanted/undigested substances from
the body.
Essential Fatty : Fatty acid that cannot be synthesised by our body
Acid and thus has to be supplied by our diet.
Glycogen : Chief storage form of carbohydrate in human beings
and animals. Found mainly in liver and muscles.
Health : State of complete physical, mental and social well-
being and not just absence of disease or infirmity.
Nutrient : A substance essential for the growth, maintenance,
function and reproduction of a cell or organism.
Physiological : Functions necessary to keep living organisms in a
Functions normal physical condition.
Regulation of : Ensuring that the normal body temperature is
Body Temperature maintained (about 37°C).
Respiration : The exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the
lungs, between the cell and its surrounding which
ultimately releases energy.
Solvent : A medium in which other substances dissolve.
Vitamin : Organic compound occurring in minute amounts in
foods and essential for metabolic reactions.

15
How to Meet the
Nutritional
1.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
Needs of Body EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1

1) Food is the raw material from which our body is made. The brain, muscles,
blood and bones are all made from the food we eat. Therefore it is said that
“food becomes you”.
2) Normal nutrition is the state in which all the essential nutrients are supplied to
the body in the correct amount and proportion to meet the body’s needs and
utilised by it to maintain good health.
3) The word diet can be used as a noun as well as a verb. If used as a noun, diet
means food intake, and as a verb it means eating prescribed kinds of foods.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

Nutrient Source
Carbohydrates Cereals
Proteins Dhals
Fats Butter/groundnut oil
Minerals (Calcium from milk)
Vitamins Leafy vegetables
Water Drinking water
2) Since water is a universal solvent it serves as a carrier of food into the
body, for digestion and absorption of food and for elimination of waste
from the body. It also helps to regulate body temperature and acts as a
lubricant in joints.
3) Functions of proteins:
a) Body building and repair of tissues.
b) Essential component of regulatory and protective substances like
enzymes.
Functions of minerals:
a) Formation of bones and teeth.
b) Formation of red pigment in blood.
4) Functions of fats:
a) Supplying energy to the body.
b) Absorption of fat soluble vitamins.
5) Food regulates all the activities of the body and ensures that these are
carried out smoothly. Some of the activities are beating of the heart,
maintenance of body temperature and muscle contraction.

16
UNIT 2 RECOMMENDED DIETARY Recommended
Dietary
ALLOWANCES FOR INDIANS Allowances For
Indians

In Unit 1 you have learnt about the various nutrients and their functions in the
body. In this unit you will study the recommended dietary allowances and
why these are set up. You will also learn the recommendations given for
various nutrients.

Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 What are Nutrient Requirements and Recommended Dietary
Allowances?
2.3 The Reasons for Setting up RDAs
2.4 The Indian Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs)
2.5 Changes in RDAs with Age and Activity
2.6 RDAs for Pregnancy and Lactation
2.7 Uses of RDAs
2.8 Let Us Sum Up
2.9 Glossary
2.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

2.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• give reasons for setting recommended dietary allowances (RDA);
• list the recommended dietary allowances for different age groups;
• identify how recommended dietary allowances (RDAs) vary with
activity, age, sex and physiological condition; and
• list the uses of recommended dietary allowances.

2.1 INTRODUCTION
You have learnt in Unit 1, that you need a supply of many nutrients to carry
out your activities efficiently. Now you will want to know as to how much
one needs of each of these nutrients to be healthy? You will find this
information in this unit, which focuses on the recommended dietary
allowances (RDAs) for Indians laid down by the Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR) Expert Group in the year 2010. You will also learn about
the various factors which influence the RDA and the uses of RDA.

17
How to Meet the
Nutritional
2.2 WHAT ARE NUTRIENT REQUIREMENTS
Needs of Body AND RECOMMENDED DIETARY
ALLOWANCES?
Nutrient requirements are the quantities of nutrients that healthy individuals
must obtain from food to meet their physiological needs. Whereas,
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are estimates of nutrients to be
consumed daily to ensure the requirements of all individuals in a given
population. RDA include a margin of safety, to cover variation between
individuals, dietary traditions and practices. The recommended dietary
allowances are suggested as averages/day for physiological groups such as
infants, pre-schoolers, adolescents, pregnant women and lactating mothers,
and adult males and females.

2.3 THE REASONS FOR SETTING UP RDAs

You will be interested to know that there were several reasons for setting up
the RDAs. First of all, the effects of deficient diets were so revealing that in
1936 the League of Nations set up an Expert Committee to recommend daily
dietary allowances for each of the known nutrients. During the Second World
War (1939-45) the military recruiting officers had to reject a number of
young men who wanted to enlist because they were underweight. Naturally
the governments in various countries were anxious to change this situation.
They formed Expert Committees to set up Recommended Dietary Allowances
(RDAs) to guide people to meet their nutritional needs. Another related
problem was estimating the food needs of the armed forces. When you plan a
guest meal, don’t you have to estimate the foods to be bought? Well, the
Government officials responsible for despatching food to the various
battalions needed a basis to calculate quantities of foods to be despatched.
Thus we find that the RDAs were set up in various countries between 1940
and 1944. As you may realise these recommendations need to be revised on
the basis of newer research findings. Our Indian recommendations were
revised in 1958, 1968, 1978, 1988 (Published in 1989) and 2010. In view of
incorporating newer research findings on human nutrient requiements, the
existing Indian RDAs were updated, revised and published in the year 2020
by the Indian Council of Medical Research and are currently been used.

Check Your Progress Exercise 1

1) Why were RDAs set up?
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18
2) How often are RDAs revised and why? Recommended
Dietary
…………………………………………………………………………… Allowances For
Indians
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

2.4 THE INDIAN RECOMMENDED DIETARY

ALLOWANCES (RDAs)
Whenever you think of providing adequate amounts of nutrients to the body,
it is necessary to express the age and body dimension of the person to be sure
that all persons would meet their nutrient needs.

The RDAs are given for

Protein
Fat

Minerals - Calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus etc.

Vitamins - Water soluble- (Vitamins C, Vitamins B12, riboflavin, niacin,
pyridoxine and folic acid).

Vitamins - Fat soluble - Vitamin A.

Apart from RDA’s Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) that meets the
requirement of half of the healthy individuals in a given life stage and gender
group for energy has also been given.
You must note that besides these, there are other nutrients, which our body
needs. But when you plan a meal, which meets your need for the above
nutrients from natural foods, they will provide enough of all other nutrients
also. To ensure that the recommended intakes cover differences in needs of
healthy persons, a liberal margin of safety is provided. RDAs meet the
requirements of nearly all individuals (97 to 98%) in a population group.
Table 2.1 presents RDAs of Nutrients for Indian Adults.

Table 2.1: RDAs for Indian Adults (Sedentary)

Nutrients Adult Man* Adult Woman*

Energy (EAR) (Kcal/d) 2110 1660
Protein (gm/d) 54 46
Calcium (mg/d) 1000 1000
Iron (mg/d) 19 29
Water soluble vitamins
Vitamins C (mg/d) 80 65
19
How to Meet the B-Vitamins
Nutritional
Needs of Body Thiamine (mg/d) 1.4 1.4
Riboflavin (mg/d) 2.0 1.9
Zinc (mg/d) 17 13.2
Pyridoxine (mg/d) 1.9 1.9
Vitamins B12 (mcg/d) 2.2 2.2
Folic Acid (mcg/d) 300 220
Fat soluble vitamins
Vitamin A mcg/d 1000 840
* For Sedentary man and woman

You will notice from Table 2.1 that you need only two nutrients in large
amounts - energy in Kcal and proteins in grams. For computation of energy
requirements the reference body weight of Indians was taken as the 95th
percentile of the body weight of Indians. The recommended protein intake in
terms of egg or animal protein is 0-6 mg/kg for adults. Vegetable proteins
have a lower digestibility and content of essential amino acids; therefore a
higher level of vegetable protein has to be consumed to meet the daily amino
acid requirement.
You need about 1000 mg/d of calcium. The RDAs of iron is 19 to 29 mg per
day. You know that a milligram is one thousandth part of a gram. The iron
need of an adult woman is more than that of a man, as she has to make up for
periodic losses of iron in menstruation.

The recommendations for all water-soluble vitamins - vitamin C, thiamine

and riboflavin are in milligrams. The need for B-vitamins is related to the
energy needs. So you find that an adult man needs slightly higher amounts of
these vitamins than an adult woman.Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin for
which RDAs are given. The amount of vitamin A needed is very minute and
is given in micrograms (mcg) — (one millionth of a gram). The vitamin A
requirement in the diets in developing countries like Indian is met from
retinol, its precursor beta-carotene and some other carotenoids. Retinol is
found in animal foods such as ghee, milk, liver, eggs, etc. You get beta-
carotene from plant foods such as dark green leafy vegetables, orange- yellow
fruits and vegetables. The conversion of plant beta carotene to retionl in the
human intestine is very important in defining vitamin A requirement in terms
of beta carotene. The current ICMR Expert group has recommended a
carotene: retinol conversion factor of 6:1.

2.5 CHANGES IN RDAs WITH AGE AND

ACTIVITY
It is natural that these nutrient needs vary with age. Please study Table 2.2,
which gives the RDAs for two major nutrient - energy and protein, for
various stages of life. You will notice that there is a progressive increase in
need with age upto adolescence.
20
Have you observed how fast babies grow in the first year? That is the reason Recommended
the recommendations for the first year are given per kilogram of body weight. Dietary
Allowances For
When children enter the stage of rapid growth between 10-15 years, you Indians
know the growth spurt is earlier in girls than in boys. So the
recommendations of energy for girls of 10-12 years, are higher than in later
years. Once you reach the adult stage, the growth and development of your
body is normally complete and you need the nutrients only for maintenance
and repair. Thus you find that the requirement of adults is lower than that of
adolescents.

Table 2.2: Changes in Recommended Dietary Allowances with Age

Age Engery (Kcal/day) Protein (gm/d)

(months/years)
Infants
0-6 months 530 Kcal 8.0
6-12 months 680 10.5
Children
1-3 years 1110 12.5
4-6 years 1360 16.0
7-9 years 1700 23.0
Boys Girls Boys Girls
10-12 years 2220 2060 32.0 33.0
13-15 years 2860 2400 45.0 43.0
16-18 years 3320 2500 55.0 46.0

Besides age, your requirements vary with the kind of physical work or
activity you are engaged in. As there are innumerable human activities with
varying energy needs, the experts have broadly divided these into three
groups:

• Sedentary or light activity lifestyle.

• Active or moderately active lifestyle.
• Vigorous or vigorously active lifestyle.
Sedentary or Light Activity Lifestyle: These people have occupations that
do not demand much physical effort, are not required to walk long distances,
generally have motor vehicles for transportation, do not exercise or
participate in sports, and spend most of their leisure time sitting or standing
with little body displacement. Examples are male/ female teachers, office
workers (executives, clerks, typists etc.), housewives living in urban areas
with access to energy saving devices and domestic help.

YOU CAN CONSIDER YOURSELF A SEDENTARY PERSON IFYOU DO

MOST OF YOUR WORK SITTING / STANDING IN ONE PLACE AND DO
NOT EXERCISE OR PARTICIPATE IN SPORTS REGULARLY.
21
How to Meet the Active or Moderately active lifestyle: These people have occupations that
Nutritional are not strenous in terms of energy demands, but involve more energy
Needs of Body
expenditure than that described for sedentary lifestyles. Examples of
moderately active lifestyles are associated with occupations such as servants,
house cleaners, construction workers, rural women who participate in
agriculture chores or walk long distances.

YOU ARE A MODERATELY ACTIVE PERSON IF YOU USE MUSCLES OF

YOUR HANDS AND FEET FAST AND CONTINUOUSLY

Vigorous or Vigorously active lifestyle: These people engage regularly in

strenuous work or in strenuous leisure activities for several hours. Examples
of vigorously active occupations include rickshaw pullers, mine workers,
coolies etc. The requirement of energy in relation to activity level are given in
Table. 2.3.

YOU ARE A VERY ACTIVE PERSON INVOLVED IN HEAVY WORK

IF YOU USE MOST OF YOUR MUSCLES, MOVE VERY FAST FOR
SEVERAL HOURS EACH DAY.

Table 2.3: Changes in Energy EARs with Activity Level

Adult EARs for Energy (Kcal)
Man
Sedentary 2110
Moderately Active 2710
Heavy Work 3470
Woman
Sedentary 1660
Moderately Active 2130
Heavy work 2720

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) Why do energy requirements vary with age?
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
2) Which persons come in the sedentary category?
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
22
3) Explain the basis for dividing activities into groups. Recommended
Dietary
…………………………………………………………………………….. Allowances For
Indians
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………..

2.6 RDAs FOR PREGNANCYAND LACTATION

Besides age and activity there is an increase in needs for nutrients with
physiological conditions such as pregnancy and lactation. This is reflected in
the ICMR recommendations for nutrient allowances (Table 2.4). During
pregnancy additional energy is needed to support the growth of the foetus,
placenta and maternal tissues. As you may be aware, more than three-fourth
of the growth of the baby occurs in the second half of pregnancy. Therefore
the recommendations for the additional needs are given only for the second
half of pregnancy. Please note that the allowances for pregnancy or lactation
are in addition to the, normal need of adults, which were discussed earlier.

Table 2.4: RDAs for Pregnancy and Lactation

Stage Energy Protein (gm)

(Kcal)
Pregnancy +350 +9.5 (2nd trimester
+22.0 (3rd Trimester)
Lactation - 0-6 months +600 +17.0
6-12 months +520 +13.0
*for weight gain of 10 kg in pregnant women.

The RDAs are higher in the first six months of lactation (Table 2.4), because
mother’s milk is the infant’s only source of food. By the time the infant
reaches six months of age, when it starts to take other foods the mother’s milk
supply decreasess by about 20%. The recommendations for energy during this
stage are highly variable as it depends on the rate of milk production.

2.7 USES OF RDAs

As you learnt in the beginning of this unit, the RDAs were set to meet a felt
need. The RDAs can be used to :

• enable the government to predict food needs of the population,

• guide agricultural planning,
• decide policy of import and export of food,
• help large catering establishments such as hostels, hospitals to calculate
foods to be ordered for their inmates,
• help organise food supply for defence personnel, and plan supplementary
feeding programmes for mothers and children. 23
How to Meet the Table 2.5 gives the summary of recommendations of the RDAs for Indians
Nutritional (2020).
Needs of Body

Table 2.5(a): Summary of RDA for Indians, 2020

Source: RDA and EAR-Nutrient Requirements for Indians, ICMR (2020), NIN

24
 Table 2.5(b): Summary of EAR for Indians, 2020

Source: RDA and EAR-Nutrient Requirements for Indians, ICMR (2020), NIN

25
Indians
Dietary
Allowances For
Recommended
How to Meet the Check Your Progress Exercise 3
Nutritional
Needs of Body 1) RDAs stands for the words.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
2) Several units are used in RDAs of nutrients. Indicate the nutrients against
the units given below:
Gram ……………………………………………………………………...
Milligram …………………………………………………………………
Microgram ………………………………………………………………
Calories …………………………………………………………………
3) Indicate the activity group to which the following people belong:
College Lecturer ………………………………………………………….
Paper Delivery man ………………………………………………………
Loader in the dock ……………………………………………………….
4) How and why do RDAs vary during pregnancy and lactation?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
5) Explain the uses of RDAs in national planning,
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

2.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit you have learnt what the recommended dietary allowances are and
why these were set up. The Indian RDAs (ICMR, 2020) are given for energy,
protein, fat, calcium, iron, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, zinc and vitamin A
& other micronutrients. You have observed variations in RDAs for various
age groups, activity patterns and physiological conditions.

The RDAs are useful in:

• planning food needs of catering organisations,

• detecting and predicting deficiencies in food consumption surveys, and
• organising food trade.
26
2.9 GLOSSARY Recommended
Dietary
Allowances For
Indians
Beta-carotene : A fat soluble plant pigment, which is the precursor of
vitamin A.
ICMR : Indian Council of Medical Research.
Labile : That which is easily altered or inactivated.
Margin of : The amount of nutrient required by a normal healthy
safety person is increased by a certain amount to obtain the
recommended amount. This increase is intended to ensure
that almost all the individuals in that age group meet their
need for that nutrient. This increase is known as margin of
safety.
Menstruation : The monthly discharge of blood from the outer layer of
uterus, resulting in increased need for blood-forming
nutrients.
Microgram : There are 1000 micrograms in one milligram.
Milligram : There are 1000 milligrams in one gram.
Precursor : A compound that can be used by the body to form an
essential nutrient.
RDA : Recommended Dietary Allowances.
RDI : Recommended Dietary Intakes.
Retinol : The chemical name of one of the forms of vitamin A,
retinaldehyde is the other form.
Sedentary : (A person) accustomed to sitting most of the time.
FAO : Food and Agriculture Organisation.
WHO : World Health Organisation.
UNU : United Nations Union.

2.10 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1) Recommended Dietary Allowances were set up to inform people about
their nutritional requirements and guide them to meet these requirements.
RDAs were also necessary to make estimates for feeding a large number
of people like in the armed forces or supplementary feeding programmes.
2) RDAs revised periodically on the basis of new research findings.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) During childhood there is rapid growth and development of the body.
Starting from birth till 18 years, the energy requirement therefore keeps
on increasing. After becoming an adult, the growth and development of
the body is complete,and the energy is required only for maintenance and 27
How to Meet the physical work, so the requirement decreases.
Nutritional
Needs of Body 2) A sedentary person is one who does most of his work sitting in one place
and uses only his hands and head, e.g., a writer, a typist, a clerk.
3) Energy requirements vary with the kind of physical work or activity one
is engaged in. As there are innumerable human activities with varying
energy needs, the experts have broadly divided these into 3 groups:
• sedentary or light activity lifestyle
• active or moderately active lifestyle
• vigorous or vigorously active lifestyle

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1) Recommended Dietary Allowances.

2) Unit Nutrients
Gram Proteins
Milligram Calcium, iron, vitamin C, thiamin, riboflavin, zinc
Microgram Retinol or beta-carotene
Calories Energy (from carbohydrates, fats and proteins)
3) Person Activity
College Lecturer Sedentary or light activity lifestyle
Paper Deliveryman Active or moderately active lifestyle
Loader in the dock Vigorous or vigorously active lifestyle

4) During pregnancy and lactation there is an increase in requirements of

nutrients to meet the needs of the foetus and formation of milk for the
infant during lactation.

5) RDAs enable government to estimate food needs of the population and

thus guide agricultural planning and decide policy of import and export
of food.

28
UNIT 3 DAILY FOOD GUIDE AND Daily Food
Guide and
BALANCED DIET balanced Diet

In the previous unit you leamt about the Recommended Dietary Allowances
and their importance. In this unit you will learn about the daily food guide,
the food groups, balanced diet, the size of serving and the number of servings
required from each group to meet the nutritional needs of the individuals. You
will also learn about the use of the food guide for the planning of meals.

Structure
3.0 Objectives
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Concept of Balanced Diet
3.3 The Basis for Development of a Food Guide
3.4 The Daily Food Guide
3.4.1 The Energy Giving Foods Group

3.4.2 Body Building Foods Group

3.4.3 Protective/Regulatory Foods Group

3.5 Planning Balanced Diets

3.6 Use of the Food Guide in Meal Planning and Evaluation
3.7 Let Us Sum Up
3.8 Glossary
3.9 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

3.0 OBJECTIVES
After studying this unit, you will be able to:

• describe basic food composition and its use in the daily food guide;
• identify each food group and its nutritional contribution; and
• plan balanced diets with the help of the daily food guide.

3.1 INTRODUCTION
We must begin this unit by a recapitulation of the main facts we learnt in Unit
2. We saw that an adequate diet should provide:

• the energy necessary for our body to function;

• the proteins, vitamins, minerals and energy for body-building and repair;
and
• vitamins and minerals to supply protective and regulatory materials.
29
How to Meet the You learnt that the body gets its energy mainly from carbohydrates present in
Nutritional Needs foods such as cereals, roots, tubers and sugar, and fats and oils (such as oils,
of Body
vanaspati, ghee and butter). You also saw that you get body-building
materials from dhals, beans and peas, milk, eggs, fish, poultry and meats; and
protective substances from a variety of foods. Dark green leafy vegetables
and orange- yellow vegetables and vitamin C rich fruits are important sources
of protective substances.

It is unnecessary for us to calculate the number of Kcal, the grams of protein,

the amount of a particular mineral or vitamin that we get in our daily diet. It is
obvious that such an exercise is impossible in practice, both in terms of time
and arithmetic skills needed, which would leave no time for food purchases
and preparation. The experts have translated the nutritional needs into kinds
and amount of foods that we eat, so that it can guide us in food selection so as
to ensure a balanced intake. This practical method devised to help food
selection, to ensure balanced diet is termed as daily food guide.

3.2 CONCEPT OF BALANCED DIET

A balanced diet can be defined as one which contains different types of foods
in such quantities and proportions that the need for calories, minerals,
vitamins and other nutrients is adequately met and a small provison is made
for extra nutrients to, withstand short durations of inadequacies. So we can
say that a balanced diet deals with the following three aspects.
1) It should include a variety of food items.
2) It should meet the nutrient needs based on the recommended dietary
allowances (RDAs).
3) It should provide a “little extra” for those times when you do not meet
your nutrient needs adequately.
All these aspects will be clear to you when you go through the subsections in
this unit.

Practical Activity 1

Record Your Food Intake

Prepare a list of all the foods you had yesterday (throughout the day) and
answer the following questions:
a) How many meals did you have yesterday?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
b) What were the preparations served in each meal?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
30
 Morning : Daily Food
Guide and
…………………………………………………………………………… balanced Diet

……………………………………………………………………………
Noon :
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
Mid-afternoon :
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
Night :
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
c) Did you have any beverage - tea, coffee, milk, any other?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
d) How many times did you have a beverage?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
e) Record the time you had each beverage and the amount of milk and sugar
included in each cup and the approximate size of the cup.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
f) Did you eat any snacks? What were these and how much?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

3.3 THE BASIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A

FOOD GUIDE
From our study so far it must be clear to you that the food guide is the basis
for planning a balanced diet.

You will appreciate that several factors need to be considered in developing a

daily food guide for such a large country as India. Some of the factors which
are relevant, are:
a) Foods available and normally used in the Indian diet.
b) Normal meal patterns.
c) The nutritional need of Indians as per Recommended Dietary Allowances.
31
How to Meet the d) The need to emphasise some foods because of prevailing deficiencies in
Nutritional Needs the diet.
of Body

As you are aware, the food availability and meal pattern vary from one
country to another. Therefore a food guide from one country is not suitable
for use in another, where the food availability and cost are not similar. This is
one of the reasons for developing a food guide for India.

In developing a food guide, the foods are classified on the basis of their use in
the meals and the major nutrients which they provide. An example will help
you to understand this point. In India, we use rice, chapati or roti (bhakari), or
a combination of these, as a staple food in our meals. All these preparations
are made from cereals, which are seeds of the grass family. You may
remember that cereals include rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, maka (corn or maize),
ragi (nachani) and a number of other millets such as vari (samai), etc. Thus
cereals and their preparations form one of the food groups in the food guide
for India.

Normally dhal or a legume preparation is served with the cereal as an

accompaniment. In fact in most of our languages, we have words such as
dhal-bhaat, dhal-roti, which emphasise this usage. Similarly, the preparations
of milk such as butter-milk, curds, and milk as such are served with cereals.
Other foods used with cereals include eggs, fish and meat. All these foods
form food group two in the food guide.
Besides these, a number of vegetable preparations form a part of the meal as
accompaniments, in the form of bhaji, salads, pickles etc. Fruits and fruit
preparations often accompany a main meal. These foods form food group
three. A detail discussion on these food groups is presented in section 3.4.

Check Your Progress Exercise 1

1) List four factors, which should be considered in setting up a food guide.
a) ………………………………………………………………………..
b) ………………………………………………………………………..
c) ………………………………………………………………………..
d) ………………………………………………………………………..

Practical Activity 2 : Analysis of Food Intake-with reference to cereals.

You have listed your food intake of yesterday in Practical Activity 1.
Please refer to it and answer the following:
a) What cereal preparations did you eat yesterday?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
b) How many servings of each cereal preparation did you eat?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
32
c) What were the total number of serving of group 1 included? Daily Food
Guide and
…………………………………………………………………………… balanced Diet

……………………………………………………………………………
d) Did you use whole wheat flour, if you had chapatis/puri/parantha?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
e) What kind of rice did you use?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
f) Did you use any other cereal or cereal product?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
g) What was it?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
h) Whs this product made from whole grain cereal or refined cereal?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
i) Record the amount of wheat flour for the family need.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
j) How many chapatis were made from the flour used?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
k) How does the chapati made in your home compare with the 30 gm indicated in
the serving for cereal group?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

3.4 THE DAILY FOOD GUIDE

Food provides us with a number of nutrients to which you have been
introduced in the previous units. But how do we know which foods to select?
The best way of selecting the right kinds of foods for each meal is by using
food groups. A food group consists of a number of food items sharing
common charateristics. Based on their common characteristics food groups
may be classified according to their:
a) sources, and 33
How to Meet the b) physiological functions (i.e. their use in the meals).
Nutritional Needs
of Body Based on physiological functions, all the foods which form a part of our food
pattern, can be divided into three food groups in the daily food guide (Table
3.1).

Table 3.1: Daily Food Guide as per Physiological Functions

Food Groups Foods Included Size of Suggested

Serving No. of
(g) Servings
1. Energy giving Cereals 20 0.5 to 20
foods Roots and tuber 100 0.5 to 2
Sugar and jaggery 5 2 to 11
Fats and oils 5 4 to 10
2. Body-buiding Milk and milk products 100ml 3 to 5
foods Meat and meat products 50 0.25 to 4
Fish 50 0.25 to 4
Eggs 50 0.25 to 4
Pulses
Nuts and oilseeds 30 0.25 to 4
3. Protective/ (i) Fruits
regulatory — Yellow and orange 100 1
foods fruits
(eg. mango, papaya) 100 1
— Citrus fruits
(e.g, lemon, lime, 100 1
orange) others (e.g,
plum, banana)
(ii) Vegetables
— Green leafy 100 0.25 to 1
vegetables
(e.g, spinach,
fenugreek, mustard)
— Yellow and orange
vegetables
(e.g. carrot, pumpkin) 100 0.25 to 2
— Others (i.e. ladies 100 0.25 to 2
finger, brinjal,
cauliflower, cabbage)

* Gives the range of No. of servings which may vary for children, adolescents
and adults based on their nutritional needs.

34
Observe that, the first column in the Table 3.1 indicates the food groups as Daily Food
Guide and
Group 1: Energy giving foods balanced Diet

Group 2: Body building foods

Group 3: Protective/Regulatory foods

The second column in Table 3.1 gives the foods included in each of the three
food groups and the third column specifies the amount; which gives the size
of the unit serving of each food and the last column indicates the minimum
number of servings to be taken to meet, ones nutritional needs. Table 3.2 to
Table 3.5 presents the number of serving to be taken of different foods in
planning balanced diet for moderate active & Sedentary man and moderate
active & Sedentary woman.

Table 3.2: Balanced Diet for moderate active man wth nutrient content
values

Source: Nutrient Requirements For Indians, NIN,2020

35
How to Meet the Table 3.3: Balanced Diet for sedentary man with nutrient content values
Nutritional Needs
of Body

Source: Nutrient Requirements For Indians, NIN,2020

Table 3.4: Balanced Diet for moderate active woman with nutrient
content values

Source: Nutrient Requirements For Indians, NIN,2020

36
 Table 3.5: Balanced diet for sedentary woman with nutrient content values Daily Food
Guide and
balanced Diet

Source: Nutrient Requirements For Indians, NIN,2020

Let us study each of these food groups in detail and understand how it is used
in practice.

3.4.1 The Energy Giving Foods Group

As you may have noticed in Table 3.1 this group includes foods rich in
carbohydrates and fats. Foods included in this group are
i) Cereals like wheat, rice, jowar, bajra etc.
ii) Root vegetables and tubers like potato, sweet potato etc.
iii) Fats and oils
iv) Sugar, jaggery and honey
i) The cereals include, preparations of rice, wheat, jowar, bajra, makka
(maize), ragi and their products such as rawa (suji or semolina), rice
flakes (poha), sevian (vermicelli), etc. They provide more than half the
day’s needs of our body for energy and proteins. In addition, cereals can
be a valuable source of one of the B vitamins-thiamine and the mineral
iron, especially if the preparation is made from wheat flour which is not
refined. For example, the chapatis made from whole wheat flour contain
six times as much thiamine as bread made from the same amount of
maida (refined wheat flour). Parboiled rice contains more thiamine than
milled, polished rice.
What is the size of one serving of cereal : Any preparation made from 20
gm of any cereal may be counted as unit for serving of foods. You will
find that this is equal to half a katori of cooked rice, one medium chapati,
two to three puries, half of a medium bhakari, two slices of bread, two
table spoons of rice flakes (dry, not soaked) or ready-to-eat cereals. 37
How to Meet the Suggested number of servings : Refer to Table 3.3. The number of
Nutritional Needs servings for a sedentary man is suggested to include at least 13.5 servings
of Body
from cereals (275 g). Those who are moderately active, or are involved in
heavy physical work such as load-lifting, will need more servings. If you
pursue any other hobbies which involve intense physical work, you will
need more servings than the minimum.
ii) Root vegetables and tubers include tapioca, potato, sweet potato, yam,
colocasia etc. These foods are a major source of carbohydrates. Yellow
yam is a good source of carotene whereas potato, sweet potato, tapioca
are a source of vitamin C. Any preparation in which 100 gm of any of
these foods is used is taken as a serving unit.
iii) You will agree that the fats and oils enhance taste and make our food
palatable. The bread or toast we have at tea time tastes better with butter.
The taste of dhal, vegetable and salad is enhanced by the seasonsing with
oil, which is customarily a part of the Indian diet. So you see that oils and
fat have an important role of improving the palatability of our meals. All
these foods are mainly a source of energy. Sugars are a readily available
source of energy while oils and fats are a concentrated source of energy.
You have also learnt in the first unit that one gram of fat or oil gives 9
Kcal and that is the reason why you call it a concentrated source of
energy.

As you know, oils and fats also improve the taste and acceptability of
foods to which these are added as a seasoning or dressing. In addition,
these are necessary in the transport and utilisation of fat soluble vitamins
in the body. Vegetable oils contain essential fatty acids, which are
necessary for growth in the young and to maintain the health of our skin.
Be sure to include at least 20 gm of vegetable oil, such as groundnut,
sesame, safflower, cotton seed, maize or soyabean oil in your diet daily.
You will then be able to meet the need for essential fatty acids. The
remaining amount can be taken as ghee, butter or vanaspati.

The total amount of oils and fats in the diet will vary with your total
energy needs and the energy intake from foods. You may know that high
fat diets are harmful to your health. Therefore the ICMR Expert Group
(RDAs 2020) suggested that the adult intake of dietary fat should be
around 15-35% of total calories.
iv) Sugar and jaggery include preparations such as jams, jellies, syrups,
squashes and other such products.
How much sugar do we need? The answer is simple - as much as will be
needed to make the food palatable. You can arrive at a good estimate by
thinking of how to use it. A cup of tea may require 5-10 gm sugar
depending on how sweet you make it. A glass of sharbat may need 15-20
gm sugar. So, on an average, 20-25 gm of sugar per day will be enough
for a sedentary person (i.e. 4 serving). It is good to remember that there is
no recommended amount for sugar, as it is not an essential component in
nutritional planning.
38
 A teaspoon or 5 gm is a good unit of serving for sugar. Since we use a Daily Food
teaspoon to add sugar to beverages it is easy to use it as a measure in Guide and
balanced Diet
serving.

3.4.2 Body Building Foods Group

The function of body building and repair is performed by the protein in the
diet. As highlighted in Table 3.1 this food group includes foods rich in
protein, which are:
i) Milk and milk products
ii) Meat and meat products
iii) Fish
iv) Eggs
v) Pulses
vi) Nuts and oilseeds

The foods in this group are used in preparations which are served along with
cereals. Some preparations, such as idli, dosa are made by combining cereals
such as rice or rawa (suji) with urad dhal; while curd or butter milk are served
with rice, egg with toast, and chicken with rice.

We meet one third or more of our protein requirement through intake of these
foods. The foods in this group are good sources of protein, which is needed
for growth and repair of body tissues, e.g. muscles, blood, skin, hair, etc. In
addition we meet part of our requirement for minerals and vitamins through
these foods. These foods supply part of our B-vitamins requirement. Milk,
eggs and liver are good sources of vitamin A. Dhals, eggs and meat are good
sources of iron. Milk is a very good source of calcium.
The foods in this group vary in their composition. Therefore, the serving size
of each of these varies as indicated herewith :

Food item Serving size

Dhals and whole pulses 30 gm
Milk or milk preparations 100 ml
Egg (no) 1 (50 g)
Fish, meat and poultry 50g

Please remember that one serving of each of these foods provides 3 to 9

grams of protein.
i) Dhals include all types of dhals such as chana, moong, urad, masur dhal,
etc. As you know dhal is obtained by removing the seed coat of whole
pulse. The whole pulse of legumes such as whole chana, moong, rajma,
peas, masur (lentils), matki (moth beans), kulthi (horsegram), etc. are all
included in this group. You may know that oil seeds such as groundnuts
and til (sesame) which belong to the legume family are included in this
group. As mentioned in Table 3.1 any preparation in which 30 gm of any
of these foods is used is taken as a serving unit.
39
How to Meet the Suggested number of servings: The suggested number of servings will
Nutritional Needs vary with age and body size. For example, a child of 3 years may need
of Body
only 1 serving of pulses (30 g), whereas a teenager of 12 years may need
upto 2 servings.
ii) We use milk as such and also in a number of preparations, such as tea,
coffee, butter-milk, curds, basundi, etc. When you drink milk or use curd
the amount used is easy to note. But the amount of milk used in
preparations varies. You may use 15 gm to 25 gm in tea, 30 gm in coffee,
a cup of butter-milk may contain 40 to 50 gm milk, while a cup of
basundi may be made from 2 to 2.5 cups of milk by concentrating it.
Thus your intake of these needs to be noted to get an estimate of total
milk intake. Refer to Table 3.2 and Table 3.3 to know about the number
of milk servings appropriate for each age group.
iii) We use egg as boiled egg, omelette; in curry, in pudding or custard. One
medium egg weighs 50 to 52 gm and is counted as one serving. If egg is
used in preparations such as pudding, you can estimate the amount you
eat by observing the portion you eat.
iv) When you think of a serving of fish, poultry and meat, include the lean
parts (without fat) of the variety that is eaten. Even organs such as liver,
heart and kidney are classified as meat. 50 gm fish, poultry or meat can
be counted as a serving.
You normally buy these by weight. If you note the amount of fatty tissue and
bone, you can estimate the amount of lean part per kilogram. When these are
served as chops, it is easy to estimate the weight of each chop and the number
of chops eaten to estimate the intake. If you make a curry, it is necessary to
record total amount of curry made and the amount served per person to
estimate the intake.

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) What are the functions of fats and oils in our diet?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
2) Who are the persons who need to restrict their intake of foods from this
group?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Practical Activity 3 : Preparation of Dhal

Prepare dhal as you normally make in your home.
40
Record the amount of dhal cooked for one meal in your home, and answer the Daily Food
Guide and
following questions. balanced Diet

a) How much water do you add to cook the dhal?

Same volume as dhal Yes/No
Twice the volume of dhal Yes/No
More than twice the volume of dhal Yes/No
b) Do you add additional water to the cooked dhal while seasoning it? How
much?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
c) What is the total volume of dhal preparation made? You can use the ladle
used for serving dhal to measure cooked dhal and dhal preparation.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
d) Please estimate the grams of dhal in two ladles of dhal preparation.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
e) How many ladles of dhal preparation will you have to eat to get an
equivalent of 25 gm dhal purchased?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Practical Activity 4 : Preparation of Meat/Fish

If you are a non-vegetarian, record the amount of meat you buy for your
family for a day and observe:
a) The meat purchased (weight) ... ... ...
The amount that has to be discarded as undersirable ... ... ... gm
Fatty Tissue ... ... ... gm
Bones, if any ... ... ... gm 41
How to Meet the Portion used in preparation ... ... ... gm
Nutritional Needs
of Body The amount of meat used in preparation (weight of meat purchased in edible
part). ... ... ...
b) i) Is the meat or fish cut into chops? Yes/No
If yes, How many? ... ... ...
ii) Is it used in curry? Yes/No
If yes, what is volume of curry made? ... ... ...
iii) What is the amount of curry/no. of chops served normally to a
person?
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………
iv) What is the estimated amount of meat in grams served per person?
……………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………

3.4.3 Protective/Regulatory Foods Group

The primary nutrients provided by foods in this group are vitamins and
minerals. Foods in the protective/regulatory food category include:
i) Fruits
• Yellow and orange fruits (mango, papaya etc.)
• Citrus fruits (e.g. lime and oranges)
• Others (e.g. Plum, banana etc.)
ii) Vegetables
• Green leafy vegetables (spinach, fenugreek, mustard etc.)
• Yellow and orange vegetables (carrot, pumpkin etc.)
• Others (e.g. brinjal, cauliflower, cabbage )
All the green and yellow vegetables and fruits have one common component,
the yellow plant pigment beta-carotene. You may remember that this pigment
is converted to vitamin A in our body. These vegetables and fruits are a rich
source of this pigment. One serving of this group provides half or more of our
day’s need for vitaminA. In addition the dark green leafy vegetables contain
some vitamin C, minerals and fibre.
What is the size of one serving? One katori i.e 100 gm of cut vegetable is
counted as one serving. You need at least one serving every other day as
indicated in Table 3.2 and 3.3.

Normally the leafy vegetables are sold as a bunch or in a bundle. The weight
of the bunch varies from 200 to 300 gm. After purchase, the vegetable is
sorted to remove damaged leaves and tough stems, thus the edible part is
42
reduced. The amount thus lost varies with the quality and variety of the leafy Daily Food
vegetable selected. A good quality spinach bunch has a high edible portion, Guide and
balanced Diet
being 90-95 per cent. Thus you can get 4 to 5 servings from such a bunch. In
other leafy vegetables it may be only 70 per cent. Thus your selection can
affect the cost per serving.
We buy cabbage, carrots, pumpkin by weight. Therefore it is possible to
estimate the serving, if you know the amount purchased. When we buy
yellow-orange, fruits, we need to estimate the edible portion after deducting
the weight of skin and seeds. The edible portion varies between 70 to 75 per
cent in these fruits.In a tropical country like India, we have a variety of
vitamin C rich vegetables and fruits which is not the case in the temperate
region. For example, the richest source of vitamin C in the tropics is amla
(also known as Indian gooseberry). It contains ten times as much vitamin C as
any citrus fruit. Guavas are another rich source, especially the newer
varieties. Apples, cabbage and drumsticks, both leaves and pods (saijan- ki-
patta and phalli) are excellent sources of vitamin C. Besides these, you have
the universally known citrus fruits such as oranges, musumbis, pummello
(chakotra) and grape fruits (pardesi chakotra). In addition, papaya, mango,
pineapple and tomato are also good sources of vitamin C.
You can take a 100 gm portion, which may fill one katori, as one serving. It
provides half or more of your day’s needs for vitamin C. There are some
exceptions to this serving size. This happens when you choose a very
concentrated source. For example, you need only one amla or 15 gm of guava
to supply half of your vitamin C requirement for the day.

As for other fruits, a quarter of a medium orange or musumbi, two segments

of grape fruit or pummello, a slice of papaya, pineapple or mango, or one
medium tomato can be counted as one serving.

Apart from the green and yellow fruits and vegetables, the other fruits and
vegetables provided rich variety of colours, flavours and textures to our diet.
These other vegetables and fruits include :

• Vegetables - cucumber, capsicum, pumpkin, lady finger (bhindi),

brinjal, etc.
• All gourds - ash gourd, bottle gourd, snake gourd, bitter gourd,
ridge gourd, sponge gourd, etc.
• All immature - french beans, cluster beans, red gram (tender), etc.
beans and peas.
• Fruits - melons, grapes, apples, pears, chikkus, bananas and
berries.

The fibrous tissues present in these vegetables are not digested and help to
move the food through the digestive tract. Thus they help to regulate
elimination of waste products from the digestive tract.
You can count one serving as 100 gm portion or one katori of any vegetable
or fruit, from this group. It is recommended that you include atleast two
servings from this daily. (Refer to Table 3.2 and 3.3). 43
How to Meet the Most of these vegetables and fruits are purchased by weight. Some of the
Nutritional Needs fruits bought by weight are grapes, apples, pears, etc. Bananas are sold by
of Body
numbers, the rate normally being per dozen. Melons are sold usually by
number, the rate varying with the size of melon.

The edible portion in some of the vegetables, such as capsicum, lady finger,
brinjal, french beans, papadi, cluster beans (gawar), beetroot, radish, etc., is as
high as 95 to 98 per cent; while in peas it is only 50 per cent.

You would be interested to know that in bananas the edible portion varies
from 65 to 75 per cent. The same is true of melons. Grapes, apples, pears,
chikkus (sapota) and berries which are generally eaten with the skin. Thus the
edible portion of these fruit is more than 95 per cent.

Now that you have reviewed the three food groups, you can easily formulate
balanced diets.

It is important that sufficient amount of foods from each of the three groups
are included in the days diet. By doing so the nutrient needs of the body will
be met. Such a diet will be a balanced diet, as it meets the nutritional needs of
the body. For detailed information on planning balanced diets you can refer
to section 3.5.

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1) Indicate the edible portion (per cent) of the following foods as consumed
in diet. cabbage, methi leaves, guavas, banana, watermelon and french
beans.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Practical Activity 5 : Analysis of Food Intake - with reference to

vegetables and fruits.
a) List the vegetables and fruits you like from Group 3.
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

44 ……………………………………………………………………………………
b) Prepare a list of vegetables and fruits you had yesterday. Daily Food
Guide and
…………………………………………………………………………………… balanced Diet

……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
c) Prepare a list of vegetables and fruits which are in season and the price per
kilogram/ no. of the same.
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
d) How many servings did you have of the fruits and vegetables?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
e) Do you think your intake of vegetables and fruits was satisfactory? Yes/No
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
f) If not, suggest what changes you could make to improve it.
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………

3.5 PLANNING BALANCED DIETS

We have studied the principle underlying the balanced diets but there are
some other aspects also which have to be taken into consideration while
planning balanced diets. A balanced diet is never generalised and same for all
individuals. Remember a balanced diet is - specific to an individuals age and
sex, specific to the activity level-sedentary, moderate or heavy work and is
always region specific. 45
How to Meet the The foods which are available locally in the region should be used in planning
Nutritional Needs diets. The income, socio-economic background, religion and the region where
of Body
the individual stays are also important in planning balanced diets. To plan
balanced diets we must refer to the RDAs about which we have studied in the
previous unit. We have to keep all these points in mind while planning
balanced diets. So we use the three food group classification in formulating
balanced diets as it is very convenient to use. Table 3.2 and 3.3 illustrate the
use of portion sizes for planning balanced diets. The first column in both the
tables indicates the food included from the three food groups. The second
column specifies the amount (gm or ml), which gives the size of the serving
of each food and the rest of the columns indicate the minimum number of
servings to be taken to meet one’s nutritional needs. With experience you will
learn to choose sufficient quantity of food from each food group in planning
balanced diets.

Check Your Progress Exercise 4

1) List the foods which have energy giving functions.
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
2) What is the importance of fruits and vegetables in our diet?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
3) Name the three basic food groups.
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
4) Match the nutritional composition of the following food groups.
1) Protective vegetables and fruits a) Calories, proteins
2) Protein foods b) Pro vitamin A, vitamin C
3) Cereals-Millets group c) Proteins, vitamins of the B-complex
group

3.6 USE OF THE FOOD GUIDE IN MEAL

PLANNING AND EVALUATION
Please note the following important points in the use of the daily food guide
in planning a meal:
1) Select foods from each of the three food groups.
46
2) Choose at least the minimum number of servings from each of the food Daily Food
groups as indicated in Table 3.2 and 3.3. Guide and
balanced Diet
3) Make choices within each group. The foods included in each group are
given in detail earlier in this unit. Please remember that foods in each
group are similar, but not identical in food value.
4) Try to include at least one food from group 2 in each meal.
5) Use fresh vegetables and fruits, which are in season to ensure high
quality at reasonable cost.

Please remember, you can add more foods from all groups to the minimum
servings suggested, to make the meals satisfying. As you may have noticed,
there are a large number of foods in each group. So you can choose foods
which you like from each group and meet your nutritional needs. In a tropical
country like India, we have a large variety of vegetables and fruits available
in each season. You can choose any leafy vegetable, for they are all good
sources of the pigment beta-carotene. You must include sufficient amount of
food from each group. The particular food you choose and the way you
season it, is a matter of your choice.
One of the questions that may worry you is, will nutritious food be more
costly than what you eat at present? Or can you afford nutritious food? The
answer is an emphatic No for the first question and Yes for the second. Cost
is not related to nutritive value of foods. It is dependent on availability and
season; not on its nutrient content.

The foods, which have a great variation in prices are vegetables and fruits.
You know that those which are in season cost the least. What you should
know is that at the peak of the season, each vegetable and fruit has the highest
nutrient content, flavour and taste. There has been extensive research in this
aspect and it has been proved that the nutrient content and yield of any plant
food, whether it is spinach, beans, oranges or mangoes, is highest at the peak
of the season. When you buy seasonalfoods you buy the best in terms of
quality and nutrients at a reasonable price. Another point to note is that
inexpensive fruits such as amla and guava are excellent sources of vitamin C,
but apples and grapes, which are costly, are poor sources of this vitamin.

You can meet the needs of different members of your family by using the
food guide. For example, the teenagers in your family can take more servings
of foods from Group 2 to meet the protein requirements for growth and more
servings from group 1 to meet the high energy requirements of body building
(Refer to Tables 3.2 and 3.3).

One last word of caution. Be moderate in the amount of food you take from
any group, even if you like it very much; otherwise you may not be able to
include enough amounts of food from all food groups.

Besides using the food guide to plan meals, you can use it to evaluate your
present diet and modify if necessary. You can also use it to check the diet
plans of institutions for nutritional adequacy. There are two aspects you need
to consider when you evaluate diets or diet plans with the help of the daily
47
How to Meet the food guide. First, you must check if each of the food groups is included in the
Nutritional Needs diet plan. Secondly, you must note if the minimum number of servings from
of Body
each group is included or not. When you have evaluated the diet plan, you
can suggest changes to improve it, if needed.

Check Your Progress Exercise 5

1) What are the guidelines for use of the Daily Food Guide in meal
planning?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
2) List the advantages of buying seasonal vegetables and fruits.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
3) ‘‘The food guide allows you to choose foods, with which you can afford
to meet nutritional needs”. Give three examples to justify this statement.
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………

Practical Activity 6
Record your food intake of a normal week day, and complete the following
table:
Menu Amount Food group No. of
taken serving
Breakfast
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………...
Lunch …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
Mid-aftternoon
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
48
 ……………………………... …………… …………… …………… Daily Food
Guide and
……………………………... …………… …………… …………… balanced Diet
Supper/Dinner
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
Other foods eaten between
means
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
……………………………... …………… …………… ……………
a) Did you include sufficient foods from all the three groups yesterday?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
b) If not, which group is low in your diet?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
c) Can you modify it? How?
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………
d) How many servings of each group did you take in the day?
i) ………………………………………………………………………
ii) ………………………………………………………………………
iii) ………………………………………………………………………
iv) ………………………………………………………………………
v) ………………………………………………………………………

3.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit you have learnt that food groups can be classified according to
their sources and physiological funtions.

A daily food guide has been developed for use in India, taking into account
foods available and normally used in the Indian diet; the normal meal pattern
of Indians and the nutritional needs as indicated by the Recommended
Dietary Allowances (RDAs). You got acquainted with the foods included in
each group, the size of serving of each and the minimum number of servings
from each group needed to meet the nutritional needs of the individual. 49
How to Meet the You can use the guide to meet the needs of an individual whose need is
Nutritional Needs higher due to strenuous activities. You have learnt to use the food guide as a
of Body
tool in planning adequate diets and to evaluate diets for nutritional adequacy.

3.8 GLOSSARY
Bhaji- : When used in a menu it refers to cooked vegetable
Vegetable preparation Sukhi bhaji has no water added, rasbhaji has
some water added.
Balanced : A diet which meets the nutritional needs of the body.
Diet
Chapati : Unleavened bread made from whole wheat flour.
Dhal-bhaat : Dhal and cooked rice.
Food group : A grouping of foods on the basis of their sources and
physiological functions.
Food Guide : A guide to help food selection and also to evaluate it to
ensure good nutrition.
Roti : Unleavened bread made from whole millet or cereal flour.
The flour normally used is made from jowar, bajra, ragi,
maize; sometimes rice or wheat flour is also used.

3.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

EXERCISES
Check Your Progress Exercise 1
1) a) Foods available and normally used
b) Normal meal pattern
c) Nutritional needs ofIndians
d) Emphasis on some foods because of the prevailing deficiencies in
the Indian dietary pattern

Check Your Progress Exercise 2

1) • Fats and oils are concentrated source of energy

• They add taste and make the food more palatable
2) • Persons who are overweight
• Persons suffering from diabetes
• Persons suffering from heart trouble

Check Your Progress Exercise 3

1) Food Edible Portion (%)

cabbage 70
methi leaves 70
50
 guava 100 Daily Food
Guide and
banana 65-75 balanced Diet

watermelon 65-75
musambi 70
french beans 95

Check Your Progress Exercise 4

1) Energy is provided by foods rich in carbolydrates and fats. Cereals,
sugar, jaggery, sweet potato are some foods which provide energy.
2) Fruits and vegetables contain vitamins and minerals which protect us
against infections.
3) a) Energy giving foods
b) Body building foods
c) Protective/Regulatory foods
4) a) Protective vegetables and fruits Pro-vitamin A,Vitamin C
b) Protein foods Proteins, Vitamins of B-complex
group
c) Cereals-millets group Calories, Protein

Check Your Progress Exercise 5

1) • Select food from the three food groups

• Choose at least the minimum number of serving from each group
• Make choices within each group depending on likes, dislikes,
availability, cost, etc.
• Include at least one food from group 2 in each meal
• Use seasonal vegetables and fruits
2) Seasonal fruits and vegetables have the highest nutrient content, flavour
and taste and are more reasonably priced than vegetables and fruits not in
season.
3) • Amla and guava are very cheap but excellent sources of vitamin C
• Green leafy vegetables when in season are cheap but excellent
sources of minerals and vitamins
• In group 2, pulses can be consumed to provide protein instead of
animal sources which are very expensive.

51
How to Meet the
Nutritional Needs
of Body

52