Topic: Nutritious food

• We consider Karaiyur village students for this project. Give the students the food chart and tell them to keep a record of everything you eat under the following categories for 5 days(17-21.09.12)

Food Gains

Vegetables

Fruit Oil Milk

Other animal

products

Break Fast

Lunch

Dinner

After 5 days let them to calculate how much calories they have got from their food. As a result they didn't get a balanced diet. Because boys(7-10 aged) need 1970 kcal per day and for girls 1740 kcal per day.

We explained the followings to the students and make them aware of nutritious food

Balanced diet

Healthy food

What do we need to add in food

Bad food habits

Deficiency diseases

Balanced diet

The food taken by an Individual should contain correct proportion of nutrients according to his age and work. This is called balanced diet.

Balanced Diet should contain 50% carbohydrates, 35% fats, 12% proteins, 3% minerals and Vitamins and

Sufficient amount of water and roughage.

It is rich in essential quality such as Vitamins, Minerals and Certain amino acids

It provides enough energy raw materials for growth of cells, tissues and organs

It provides the right quantum of energy required by the body.

Balanced Diet has three important qualities

Healthy food has…..

Energy producers like carbohydrates, fats

Body builders like proteins.

Body regulators like minerals, vitamins and water.

Carbohydrates give energy instantly.

Fats give energy and strength.

Vitamins and minerals protect us from diseases.

The following are the foods which contains a balanced diet (in Grams)

Food Child Adult

Grains 270 420

cereals 35 45

Vegetables 50 50

Greens 50 50

Milk 20 30

Fat 25 40

Sugar 40 45

Tuber 20 30

The pyramid of a balanced diet

Add the followings to your food

Try to eat a variety of plant food Include corn or maize Soaked in water or boiled. This gives vitamins

and proteins to your body. Let Regi and Bajra which are rich sources of calcium and iron, form

part of your food. Let Pulses like Peas, grams, peanuts and soya beans form major part

of your regular food. Dark green leafy vegetables have protein, iron, and lot of vitamin A Take seasonal fruits like guava, papaya, orange, lemon, banana,

mango and tomato which are rich in minerals and proteins. Use jaggery which contains a lot of iron instead of sugar. Enjoy raw vegetables like carrots, cucumber, radish, tomatoes and

cabbage either in salad or simply raw.

Traditional Wrong or bad food habits

o We boil vegetables rice and other food stuffs in plenty of water and throw the water after boiling. It is a wrong practise and we lose vitamins.

o We overcook some food stuffs and lose vitamins

o We cook food by roasting, frying, deep trying and baking and destroy vitamins A, B, C and proteins by these methods.

o Some of us have wrong beliefs that curd, butter milk and fruit juices produce cold in our body and jaggery, papaya and mango produce heat in our body. These are not scientifically true

Deficiency DiseasesVitamins & Minerals deficiency diseases:

Deficiency Diseases

Deficient Nutrients

Major Symptoms

Night Blindness Vit-A No Vision in dim light

Beri beri Vit-B Numbness, Weakness, fluid accumulation in tissues.

Survey Vit-C Bleeding of gums, falling teeth

Rickets Vit-D Weak, Soft thin bones, Swelling on wrist, elbow and knee

Bleeding disease

Vit-K Delayed blood clotting so profuse bleeding

Pernicious anaemia

Vit-B12 Immature red cells without hemoglobin very fatal

We arranged a campaign at Karaiyur village and our students and teachers made an awareness among the community people.

The followings are some of the charts which is used by our students for campaign

• After that campaign we gave the same food chart to keep their daily food habits for the 5 days(1-5.10.12). Now there is an improvement in their food habits.