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MEAL PLANNING
I n the previous lesson you have learnt about the meaning of nutrition and
health and the inter-relationship between them. You are also familiar with the various nutrients present in food, their functions, requirement in the body and the factors influencing these requirements.
In this lesson, you will learn about grouping the foods into different groups according to their nutrient content. Inclusion of these food groups in our daily meals is important to provide an adequate diet.
This knowledge is essential to make sure that you are eating the right food in the right quantities. In this lesson, you will learn how to ensure nutritional adequacy of the food that you eat every day and how you can plan the same.
OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you will be able to:
categorise foods into food groups on the basis of nutrients;
explain the term ‘balanced diet’;
state the meaning of 'meal planning' and its importance;
enumerate the factors influencing meal planning;
analyse the nutritional needs of members of the family and modify the meals accordingly;
define ‘therapeutic diet’ and its need;
enumerate the types of modification of normal diet,
suggest modifications of a normal diet for people suffering from com- mon diseases.
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5.1 FOOD GROUPS
The knowledge of recommended dietary allowances and composition of food is necessary for the selection of an adequate diet. But if we start doing this, it will be a tedious process. Therefore, it is necessary to translate the nutri- tional needs into kinds and amounts of food that we should eat. Such an information can then be used in everyday meal planning exercise. This is achieved by dividing/categorizing all food items into various groups called food groups. Now let us see what is a food group.
A food group, quite simply, consists of a number of food items shar- ing some common characteristics.
Let us see the two ways of classifying food into groups
physiological, on the basis of function on the basis of nutrients A. Classification Based on Physiological Functions In the previous lesson you have studied that food has three basic physiologi- cal functions. Can you remember these? Yes, energy giving, repair and growth, protection and regulation.
B. Classification Based on Nutrients Now we will study the classification based on the nutrients which they supply.
Table 5.1: Five Food Group System
Food Group Main Nutrients
1. Cereals, Grains and Products Energy, protein, fat, Rice, wheat, ragi vitamin B 1 , vitamin B 2 , bajra, maize, jowar folic acid, iron, fibre barley, riceflakes, wheat flour etc. 2. Pulses and Legumes Energy, protein, fat, Bengal gram, blackgram vitamin B 1 , vitamin B 2 , greengram, redgram, folic acid, calcium, lentil (whole as well as dhals), iron, fibre cowpea, peas rajmah, soybeans, beans etc.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
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Substitution of one food item with the other in such a way that the nutrients provided by them are the same is called Food Exchange.
Food Exchanges make Diet Planning Easy
5.2 BALANCED DIET
You have already learnt about the nutrients, their sources and importance and also about nutritional requirements. Sometime back we raised a ques- tion- what should we eat so that our nutritional requirements are met? Do you think you can answer this question now? Yes, you are right - you should eat food items which provide all these nutrients to your body. Such a meal is called a balanced diet. By meeting our nutritional requirements such a diet helps us in staying healthy. It also provides some amount of nutrient for storage in the body. This helps the body to withstand short periods of dietary inadequacy. A balanced diet is one which contains different types of foods in such quantities that the individual’s need for the various nutrients is adequately met, and some amounts of nutrients are stored in the body to withstand short periods of low dietary intake.
Fig. 5.8: Food pyramid
Characteristics of a Balanced Diet A balanced diet contains both plant and animal foods and fulfills following requirements: meets the nutritional requirements of an individual includes foods from all the food groups contains a variety of foods
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consists of seasonal foods
is economical
suits the taste and meets the desires of the individual eating it
INTEXT QUESTIONS 5.
- In how many ways can foods be classified?
- List the five food groups.
- What is food exchange? Give one example.
- Tick mark (√) the most appropriate answer:
(i) A balanced diet should consist of a) both plant and animal foods b) only plant foods c) only animal foods d) only cereals and pulses (ii) A balanced diet is one which has a) some nutrient in referred amount b) food from one food group in correct amounts c) all the nutrients in correct amounts d) all those foods that a person likes to eat in correct amounts
5.3 WHAT IS MEAL PLANNING?
Meal planning is making a plan of meals with adequate nutrition for every member of the family within the available resources. The term ‘available resources’ means whatever the family has in terms of time, energy and money.
IMPORTANCE OF MEAL PLANNING
Meal planning is important for meeting the nutritional requirements of the family members. It helps us to decide what to eat each day and in each meal. We can call it our ‘daily food guide’.
Meal planning helps us to:
(a) fulfill the nutritional requirements of the family members
(b) make the food economical
(c) cater to the food preferences of individual members
(d) save energy, time and money
(e) use left over food
The following section, will help you to understand these points clearly.
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6. Time, energy and skill considerations
While planning the meals, you should consider the resources like time, energy and skill available to the family. Meals can be elaborate with different dishes but you can simplify them by cooking a simple but nutritious dish. For example, a working mother could prepare a paushtik pulao, instead of preparing three or four items for dinner.
7. Seasonal availability
Some foods are available in summers while some in winters. The off season foods are expensive and less nutritious, while those in season are fresh, nutritious, tasty and cheap. Hence, while planning seasonal foods should be used.
8. Religion, region, cultural patterns, traditions and customs
Regional factors influence meal planning. For example, if you are a North Indian, you will consume more of wheat, while those near the coastal region, will consume more of coconut, fish, etc. Similarly your staple food would be rice if you are a South Indian. Religious beliefs prevalent in the family also have an influence. For example, if you are a vegetarian, your diet will not have any meat or meat product, Hindus do not eat beef and Muslims do not eat pork etc.
9. Variety in colour and texture
Examine the following two menus - which one is better?
Menu - I Menu - II Chapati Chapati Rice Rice Arhar dal Rajmah Pumpkin Vegetable Fried ladyfinger Curd Carrot raita Salad (Radish and Salad (Cabbage, cucumber, onion) beetroot) Papad
The second one, as it has variety in terms of colour, texture, flavour and method of preparation. These factors help you to make meals more appealing, attractive and hence more acceptable.
10. Likes and dislikes of individuals
The food you serve should cater to the likes and dislikes of the indi- vidual family members. It is often better to change the form of some particularly nutritious food item, rather than omitting it completely. For example, if someone in your family does not like milk, you can
Fig. 5.8 Fig. 5.
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give it in the form of curd, paneer, etc. Similarly, if one does not want to take green leafy vegetables in cooked form, what alternative would you suggest, so that it can be taken in adequate amount? Yes, it can be used in a variety of ways - mixed with flour and made into paranthas or poories; or as culets or pakodas. It can also be given in the form of koftas, idlis, vadas, etc.
11. Satiety Value
While planning meals, take care that you select foods which provide satiety value. Meals which produce inadequate satiety, will lead to onset of hunger pangs, which in turn will affect the working capacity and efficiency of a person.
Satiety : Feeling of fullness after eating
INTEXT QUESTIONS 5.
- Answers the following questions.
(a) What are the qualities of a well planned meal? (b) Differentiate between seasonal foods and out of season foods. (c) List at least two points you will keep in mind in order to prepare an attractive and appealing meal. (d) List the different types of work. Which kind of work requires maximum energy? (e) Your brother does not like lauki but your sister is very fond of it. How will you solve this problem?
- Select nutritious snacks from following food items. (i) Poha (ii) French Fries (iii) Dokla (iv) Vegetable cutlets (v) Pizza (vi) Upma
5.4 MODIFICATION OF FAMILY MEALS FOR
VARIOUS AGE GROUPS
Meal planning is an art and science in itself. What is to be cooked is decided by the homemaker from the available food items. But the meal planning is affected by various factors like nutritional requirements, budget, season etc. all of which you have studied earlier.
These factors various from family to family. Do you remember what you had for lunch? Usually it would have been chapati, dal, rice, cooked veg- etables, salad, curd, sometimes, fruits or sweets. This is generally a bal- anced meal. Can you tell why? Yes, because it has food items from all the
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3. Modification in terms of frequency
What would you suggest to a person whose requirements are increased but they are not able to increase the quantity of food in the original meals? Yes, you will suggest an increase in the number of meals instead. This means the should take something in between the main meals. This is diet modification in terms of frequency.
B. Through Food Exchange Method
If you are modifying the same meal for different family members, then how will you decide on how much of one item is equivalent to another one? If you are not sure about how to go about exchanging one food item with an- other in the correct proportion, then you may not be able to fulfill everyone’s requirements correctly. For example, if you are exchanging milk with egg then you should know how much of milk is equivalent to one egg or if one does not want to eat egg, in that case, how much of pulses should be given instead?
Food exchanges help you to modify the diet for an individual according to needs, likes, dislikes and food habits and help you to make the diet more flexible and interesting. The following food exchange table gives you a fair idea about the exchanges that can be done among various foods, so that the nutrients derived by these foods remain the same.
Protein rich foods
Fig. 5.
1 glass of milk = 1 egg = 1 medium size katori meat = 1 big katori pulses = 1 big katori curd = 1/4 cup of paneer = 3 cups of butter milk
Cereals
Fig. 5.
1 Chapati = 1 bread slice = 1 potato = ½ cup rice = ½ cup dalia = 4 salted biscuits = ½ cup noodles = 1 idli = 1 plain dosa = ½ cup upma/poha
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Fats
Fig. 5.
1 tsp of butter = 1 tsp of oil = 2 tsp mayonnaise = 4-5 pieces of nuts = 10- pieces of peanuts = 5 tsp cream.
A Sample Menu of a Common Meal
While planning meals for different family members, keep in mind the nutri- ent content of food. You want that the common menu should be served to everyone. But this does not work out, as the needs of different individuals vary.
One easy way is to start with a sample menu for a healthy adult man engaged in normal activity. Plan for one person, decide how much to provide at dif- ferent meals, according to the requirements. This becomes the reference menu for different family members according to their specific requirements.
1. Menu for an Adult Man/Woman
Here we are presenting sample menus for an adult man and a woman, who are engaged in moderate work. We will use these reference menus and you can modify them to suit the needs of other members.
Table 5. Sample menu for a person for engaged in moderate work
For man For woman Meal Menu Amount Amount
Early morning Tea 1 cup 1 cup
Breakfast Aloo parantha 2 1 Sprouted pulse raita 1 medium katori 1 big katori Boiled egg 1 1
Lunch Chapatis 4 2 Methi aloo vegetable 1 small katori 1 medium katori Urad dal 1 big katori 1 medium kotori Salad half plate half plate Fruit 1 orange 1 orange
Evening Suji upma 1 big katori 1 big katori Tea 1 cup 1 cup
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3. Modification for Lactating Mother
You are already aware of the fact that the nutrition of lactating mother is very important as the newborn baby relies completely on the mother for nutritional requirements. Inadequate food intake reduces the milk secretion. Her requirement is even greater than that of a pregnant woman. So while modifying her diet, you will take care that her meals are rich in energy, protein, calcium, vitamin A and C.
She should be given more of foods like milk, curd, pulse, which are rich in protein, calcium, and vitamin A. Further, to compensate for her requirements, an additional serving of egg and vitamin A rich food like mangoes are given to her as compared to the sample menu. The frequency of meals too should be increased to fulfill her extra needs.
Activity : Note down one day diet of a lactating woman in your area. From the diet note:-
Food eaten Nutrients present Suggestions for improvement
4. Modification for an Infant
Mothers milk is sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of the baby upto 6 months.
Liquid (6 months)
Juice, soups, milk
Semi-Solid (6-9 months)
porridge, kheer, mashed banana or potatoes
Solid 9-12 months
Khichri, egg, chappati, vegetables and fruits
Weaning pattern for an infant
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5.
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You know that by 6 months, infants are put on weaning foods to take care of their rapid growth and development. Weaning is a gradual process of shift- ing the child from breast milk to a normal household diet. A good diet during infancy is very important, since the foundation of future health is laid during this stage. They now need weaning foods rich in proteins, Vitamin A and specially calcium. The calorie requirements of infants is nearly ¼ and pro- tein is 1/3 of that of adults. But they need more calcium than adults. So they should be given more of foods like milk, egg, green leafy vegetables etc. Keeping in mind all these factors, the sample menu can be modified in terms of quantity, quality and frequency.
5. Modifications for Children and Adolescents
A well balanced healthy diet is a must for all age groups. The modifications for various age groups are as follows: Table 5.3 : Modifications for children
School going Children
- A high calorie, high protein diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals.
- Need energy rich foods for their hec- tic activities both at school and home.
- Packed ‘tiffin’ as- sumes a lot of im- portance as break- fast is usually skipped. ‘Tiffin’ should be tasty be- sides being nutri- tious.
Pre-schoolers
- A high calorie high protein diet, rich in cal- cium and vitamin A.
- Mildly flavoured and less spicy foods to be given
- Handy Finger Foods are preferred. Example - French fries, Sandwiches, vegetable rolls, Stuffed pranthas etc.
- Foods should neither be too hot or too cold for the child to handle
Adolescents
- A high calorie, high protein diet, rich in calcium and iron.
- Quantity of food in- take must be in- creased to meet their rapidly chang- ing body needs.
- Nutritious fast foods and snacks should be planned.
- Peer group influ- ence affects food in- take, it must be kept in mind while plan- ning.
- Starving crash diet- ing/erratic eating habits must be dis- couraged.
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to correct nutritional deficiencies to provide a change in the consistency of diet: liquid or semi-solid to bring about change in the body weight, if required.
THERAPEUTIC DIET
What is meant by ‘Therapeutic Diet’?
Therapeutic diet is the special diet given to a person suffer- ing from a disease, to facilitate recovery. It is a modification of the normal diet.
Does the change in diet help the person to recover from disease? Yes, cer- tainly. When sugars are withdrawn from food, insulin is not required to di- gest them. When fats are taken off the diet, the liver can relax and take time to recover. Drinking fluids certainly helps to overcome losses of water and minerals.
Some points to remember
While modifying the diet of a patient, keep the following points in mind:
- Do not plan a completely different diet because: (i) Diets based on a person's daily diet have better acceptance. (ii) Such diet do not make a patient feel that he/she is eating something completely different from the family members. (iii) It is difficult to prepare.
- Try to include only those foods which are liked by the patient, otherwise food may not be eaten at all.
- Serve the meal in an attractive way to make them feel like eating.
TYPES OF MODIFICATION OF A NORMAL DIET
The types of modifications that may have to be made are as follows:
- In diet consistency
- In nutrient content
- In interval and frequency of feeding 1. Modifications in diet consistency In some diseases the thickness of the food has to be changed. The food can then be served in two consistencies:
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- Liquid
- Semi solid
Sometimes, it becomes difficult to eat normal food. For example, in diar- rhoea and fever you serve a liquid diet. This liquid diet includes milk, fruit juices, coconut water, nimbu-pani, tea, lassi, soups, cold drinks, etc. When one is little better you can serve khichdi, curd, custard, fruits, bread, cooked vegetables, etc.
2. Modifications in nutrient content
Depending on the nature of the diseases, modifications may need to be made in one or more nutrients in the diet. The modifications can be in terms of an increase or decrease in amount of the nutrient. For example, salt has to be reduced in high blood pressure, intake of carbohydrates has to be restricted in case of diabetes and fluid intake has to be increased in the case of diar- rhoea.
3. Modifications in interval and frequency of feeding
Normally you eat 3-4 meals a day, that is, breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner. In sickness, you find it difficult to eat the amount you usually eat at one time. However, your body must get all the nutrients in correct amounts. Small amounts of food at intervals of 2-3 hours and as many as 8-10 small meals in a day instead of 3-4 meals facilitates speedy recovery.
INTEXT QUESTIONS 5.
- Differentiate between the following:
(i) Normal diet and therapeutic diet. (ii) Modification in diet consistency and modification in frequency of feeding.
- Write ‘T’ against true and ‘F’ against false statements. Justify your answer. (i) Sick people need only medicines for improving health. (ii) Diet plays no role in helping the patient to get well. (iii) Liquid diet consists of foods like nimbu-pani, fruit juices, coco- nut water, etc. (iv) The normal diet meets nutritional needs of all sick individuals. (v) The modified diet should be as similar to the normal diet as pos- sible.
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Table 5.
MODIFICATIONS IN
FOOD TO BE
DISEASES
Diet consistency
Nutrient content
Interval and
Taken
Avoided
frequency of feeding
Diarrhoea
Liquid/semi solid
Low fibre
Frequent meals,
Soups, banana, biscuits,
Whole cereals,
intervals of 1-2 hrs
sago khichdi, potato,
chillies, whole pulses,
boiled egg, curd,
fried food, guava, fruit
dals, refined
with skin, leafy vegetables,
cereals
pastries, milk
Fever
Semi solid diet
High calorie,
Frequent meals at
Milk, egg, chicken, fish,
Whole cereals,
high protein
2-3 hrs interval
juices, fruits, soups,
chillies, whole pulses,
lassi, dalia, kheer
fried food, guava, fruitwith skin, leafy vegetables,pastries, milk
Diabetes
No change
Normal diet
Meals taken at
Vegetables, roti, dal,
Sugar, sweet, honey, jam,
with no sugar
fixed time, take six
milk, curd, fruit, egg.
jellies, cakes, pastries,
small meals/day
sweetened fruits, colddrinks, tinned fruit
Hypertension
No change
Low calorie,
No change
Roti, dal, vegetables,
Food rich in cholesterol
low cholestrol,
milk, fruits
and salt like cheese, butter
low salt
egg yolk, pickles, chutneys,papads, sauces
Jaundice
Start with liquids
Low fat
Small frequent meals
Roti, vegetable, dal,
Fried food-puri, pakoda,
slowly go to a
at 1-2 hrs intervals
skimmed milk, fruit, sugar
samosa
normal diet
Constipation
No change
High fibre,
No change
Atta with husk, whole
Refined foods like suji,
drink lots of
pulses, green leafy
rice, candies, bread, maida
water
vegetables, guava
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INTEXT QUESTIONS 5.
- Match the diseases given in column A with the therapeutic diets given in colum B
Column A Column B (i) Diarrhoea (a) Low sugar diet (ii) Fever (b) Low fibre diet (iii) Diabetes (c) Low salt diet (iv) Hypertension (d) High protein, high energy diet (v) Jaundice (e) High fibre diet (vi) Constipation (f) High carbohydrate low fat diet
- List five foods rich in each of the following nutrients (a) Carbohydrates____________, ___________, _____________ _______________________, ___________, _____________ (b) Proteins________________, ___________, _____________ _______________________, ___________, _____________ (c) Fibre___________________, ___________, _____________ _______________________, ___________, _____________
5.6 WRONG BELIEFS (MYTHS) REGARDING DIET
There are many wrong beliefs prevalent among people regarding diet. We present here only a few myths and the facts.
- Myth: Diabetics can not eat rice or potatoes. Fact: A little amount can be taken daily.
- Myth: Jaundice patients should not take fats or turmeric in their diet. Fact: Fats must be excluded for a while but turmeric is not harmful during jaundice.
- Myth: Crash dieting or eating very little is good for losing weight fast. Fact: Starvation diet is harmful to the body. A controlled, high fibre, low calorie diet is recommended.
- Myth: In diarrhoea, stop eating Fact: The body needs food to help recover. Stopping food only aggra- vates the problem.
- Myth: In fever do not give hot foods. Fact: There is nothing like hot and cold food.
