Page 26 - Health & Physical edu- 8

Ways to Manage Balanced Diet from Locally Available Food Items

The food items available in our locality are: rice, corn, wheat, millet, buck wheat,
beans, soybeans, yellow lentil, potato, radish, green vegetables and fruits. These food

items can be divided into three categories based on their function in the body as:

i. Energy giving items: Food items that provide energy

ii. Growth items: Food items that assist growth

iii. Protecting items: Food items that assist building immunity power in the body

Balanced diet is the food that includes appropriate amount of the food items from
the above mentioned categories. If we take sufficient amount of balanced diet, then
we get almost all the required nutrients for our body. We have to take the locally

available food items in the balanced way. Due to the lack of knowledge about it,
people take imbalanced diet. For example, if we take only lentil with rice, then we
cannot get the nutrients to protect our body. Similarly, if we take spinach or other
vegetables with rice or roti, then we cannot get the nutrients that assist growth of

our body.

Therefore, we can make balanced food that includes rice or rice made up of ground
corn pieces (Chyakhla), wheat, millet, corn, lentil, dhido, beans and grains, green
vegetables, fruits, etc. We get protein from milk and carbohydrate from potato. It

may be difficult to include many types of food items in every single meal. Therefore,
we can get all types of nutrients needed for our body if we take different types of
food items in the morning, day or evening meals. So, we have to manage balanced

diet taking those food items that are available at the local level.
Ways to Protect Nutrients while Cooking

Food items naturally contain nutrients but if we don’t cook properly, they may
be destroyed. Therefore, we have to be very much careful in order to protect the

nutrients while cooking.The food should be covered or closed while cooking. We
should not mix the cooked and uncooked food. The kitchen and store room at home
must be safe and spacious. We should not over-peel potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Food items should not be over- fried or oil-fried. Green vegetables such as spinach

22 Health & Physical Education, Class-8