Food, Shelter & Water • Topic 1 of 3

Food: Sources, Cooking & Preservation

Food comes from two broad sources -- plants (grains, pulses, fruits, vegetables, oils) and animals (milk, eggs, meat, fish, honey). What food gives the body is decided by its nutrients. Carbohydrates (rice, wheat, potato, sugar) and fats (oil, ghee, butter, nuts) supply energy; fats give the most energy per gram. Proteins (pulses, eggs, milk, fish, meat) are body-building or 'growth' foods, vital for children -- their lack causes kwashiorkor and marasmus. Vitamins and minerals are needed in small amounts but are protective: Vitamin A (carrot, papaya, green vegetables) guards eyesight and its lack causes night blindness; Vitamin C (amla, lemon, orange, guava) prevents scurvy; Vitamin D (sunlight, milk) with calcium builds bones and its lack causes rickets; iron (green leafy vegetables, jaggery) makes blood and its lack causes anaemia; iodine (iodised salt, seafood) prevents goitre. A balanced diet has all of these in the right proportion, plus roughage (fibre) and water. Cooking makes food softer, tastier, easier to digest and kills germs, though over-cooking destroys some vitamins. Food is preserved -- by drying, salting, adding sugar, pickling in oil, refrigeration, boiling/pasteurising and canning -- to stop it spoiling and to use it out of season.

✅ Solved examples

1. A child finds it hard to see in dim light at dusk. Which nutrient is most likely missing from the diet?
Vitamin A. Its deficiency causes night blindness; good sources are carrots, papaya and green leafy vegetables.
2. Pulses, eggs, milk and fish are grouped together in EVS because they are rich in:
Proteins -- the body-building nutrients needed for growth and repair, especially important for young children.
3. Why does drying mangoes in the sun (to make aam papad) help the food last longer?
Drying removes moisture/water, and micro-organisms that spoil food cannot grow without water. It is a common method of food preservation.
4. A diet that contains all nutrients -- carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals -- along with roughage and water in the right amounts is called a:
Balanced diet. It keeps the body healthy and prevents deficiency diseases.

✏️ Practice — try these, take hints as needed

1. A person suffers from goitre (swelling of the neck). The mineral missing from the diet is:
Added to common salt to prevent this.
Found in seafood.
Iodine
2. Which nutrient gives the body the most energy per gram?
Found in oil, ghee, butter and nuts.
Not carbohydrate.
Fats
3. Amla, guava, lemon and orange protect against which deficiency disease?
Caused by lack of Vitamin C.
Affects gums and causes bleeding.
Scurvy
4. Honey, milk and eggs are examples of food obtained from:
Not plants.
Bees, cows, hens.
Animals / animal sources

📝 Topic test — 8 questions

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