10-01-2006, 08:22 PM
All the more relevant and timely with McDonalds/Pizza Huts beckoning the nation now...
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Food fit for an Indian </b>
Â
Focus
A majority of Indians are poorly nourished. Even those who are well fed suffer from poor nutrition because they do not get a balanced diet. Nationwide surveys by government agencies over the years have revealed that Indians including those living in urban areas suffer from common nutrition deficiencies like <b>protein energy malnutrition and inadequacy of micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, iodine and vitamin B-complex</b>.
Keeping this in view, the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition has issued a nutrition manual containing dietary guidelines for Indians, particularly adolescent girls and pregnant women.
The guidelines suggest the balance of food for a energy-filled healthy day. The nutrition quota differs depending on the amount and type of work he or she does: A sportsperson would have different nutritional and energy requirements than the sedentary office worker. It varies depending on age obviously, children and the elderly would eat differently and gender.
The effort follows the revised nutritional guidelines issued by the United States government last year. In the form of a food pyramid dubbed MyPyramid it was accompanied by a complementary website which offered information on food intake within parameters of age, gender and level of daily exercise. Some critics said that the recommendations could be more explicit in instructing the public not to eat unhealthy food.
Some of that applies to the NIN guidelines as well, but supporters say that it is not possible address individual needs.Studies by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau show that currently, the daily intake of most foods, except cereals and millets (470 grams) is much below the recommended dietary allowance. The current diets provide negligible amounts of protective foods like pulses (29 grams) and vegetables.
Consumption of leafy vegetables and other vegetables (70-80 grams), which are rich sources of micronutrients like beta-carotene, foliate, calcium, riboflavin and iron, is inadequate. Intake of visible fat is less than 60 per cent of the recommended daily allowance. NINs guidelines attempt to make healthy food available for the poor. <b>The stress is on vegetables, especially the leafy ones, which are inexpensive and nutritionally rich. The NIN chart highlights cereals and millets as the main food.</b>
In the cereal/millet-based dietaries, the primary bottleneck is energy and not protein, as was earlier believed, NIN reported in a study. This dietary energy gap can be easily overcome by increasing the quantities of habitually eaten foods by the poor, it said. A balanced diet should provide around 60 to 70 per cent of total calories from carbohydrates, preferably starch, about 10-12 per cent from proteins and 20-25 per cent from fat.
Nutrient-dense low-fat foods are recommended for old people. Nutritionally adequate diet with extra food is suggested for new mothers. <b>Body-building and protective foods are recommended for adolescents to spur growth and maturation</b>.
For childrens health, energy, body-building and protective food (milk, vegetables and fruits) are recommended. And for infants, breast milk and energy rich foods (fats and sugar) are needed for growth.
The guidelines are important in the backdrop of the poor average health. About one-third infants born are low in weight i.e. less than 2.5 kgs, against less than 10 per cent in developed countries. Two per cent of nursery schoolchildren suffer from severe forms of protein energy malnutrition. Children below five years suffer from sub-clinical under-nutrition resulting in low weight for age.
<b>This is less than 75 per cent of median weight for age as fixed by the National Centre for Health Statistics. About 65 per cent of these children show stunted growth. Under-nutrition if continued throughout the growing phase leads to short stature in adults. Half the adults have body mass index below 18.5, an indicator of chronic energy deficiency.</b>
The NIN goals include maintenance of positive health and optimal performance, ensuring adequate nutritional status for pregnant women and lactating mothers, improving birth weights and promoting growth of infants, children and adolescents to achieve their full genetic potential and preventing chronic diet- related disorders.
The NINs new guidelines suggest consuming nutritionally adequate diet through a wise choice; additional food and extra care during pregnancy and lactation; food supplements for infants by four to six months; consumption of leafy vegetables, and fruits in large quantities; moderate use of oils, sugar and salt; avoidance of processed and ready-to-eat foods.
Statistics indicate that anaemia caused due to malnutrition kills over one lakh pregnant women every year. About 300 million people live in areas where iodine is in short supply. Iodine deficiency leads to a variety of problems. Around one lakh still-births and neonatal deaths occur because of deficiency of iodine in mothers. Because they dont get enough leafy vegetables to eat, or simply overlook them.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Food fit for an Indian </b>
Â
Focus
A majority of Indians are poorly nourished. Even those who are well fed suffer from poor nutrition because they do not get a balanced diet. Nationwide surveys by government agencies over the years have revealed that Indians including those living in urban areas suffer from common nutrition deficiencies like <b>protein energy malnutrition and inadequacy of micronutrients like vitamin A, iron, iodine and vitamin B-complex</b>.
Keeping this in view, the Hyderabad-based National Institute of Nutrition has issued a nutrition manual containing dietary guidelines for Indians, particularly adolescent girls and pregnant women.
The guidelines suggest the balance of food for a energy-filled healthy day. The nutrition quota differs depending on the amount and type of work he or she does: A sportsperson would have different nutritional and energy requirements than the sedentary office worker. It varies depending on age obviously, children and the elderly would eat differently and gender.
The effort follows the revised nutritional guidelines issued by the United States government last year. In the form of a food pyramid dubbed MyPyramid it was accompanied by a complementary website which offered information on food intake within parameters of age, gender and level of daily exercise. Some critics said that the recommendations could be more explicit in instructing the public not to eat unhealthy food.
Some of that applies to the NIN guidelines as well, but supporters say that it is not possible address individual needs.Studies by the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau show that currently, the daily intake of most foods, except cereals and millets (470 grams) is much below the recommended dietary allowance. The current diets provide negligible amounts of protective foods like pulses (29 grams) and vegetables.
Consumption of leafy vegetables and other vegetables (70-80 grams), which are rich sources of micronutrients like beta-carotene, foliate, calcium, riboflavin and iron, is inadequate. Intake of visible fat is less than 60 per cent of the recommended daily allowance. NINs guidelines attempt to make healthy food available for the poor. <b>The stress is on vegetables, especially the leafy ones, which are inexpensive and nutritionally rich. The NIN chart highlights cereals and millets as the main food.</b>
In the cereal/millet-based dietaries, the primary bottleneck is energy and not protein, as was earlier believed, NIN reported in a study. This dietary energy gap can be easily overcome by increasing the quantities of habitually eaten foods by the poor, it said. A balanced diet should provide around 60 to 70 per cent of total calories from carbohydrates, preferably starch, about 10-12 per cent from proteins and 20-25 per cent from fat.
Nutrient-dense low-fat foods are recommended for old people. Nutritionally adequate diet with extra food is suggested for new mothers. <b>Body-building and protective foods are recommended for adolescents to spur growth and maturation</b>.
For childrens health, energy, body-building and protective food (milk, vegetables and fruits) are recommended. And for infants, breast milk and energy rich foods (fats and sugar) are needed for growth.
The guidelines are important in the backdrop of the poor average health. About one-third infants born are low in weight i.e. less than 2.5 kgs, against less than 10 per cent in developed countries. Two per cent of nursery schoolchildren suffer from severe forms of protein energy malnutrition. Children below five years suffer from sub-clinical under-nutrition resulting in low weight for age.
<b>This is less than 75 per cent of median weight for age as fixed by the National Centre for Health Statistics. About 65 per cent of these children show stunted growth. Under-nutrition if continued throughout the growing phase leads to short stature in adults. Half the adults have body mass index below 18.5, an indicator of chronic energy deficiency.</b>
The NIN goals include maintenance of positive health and optimal performance, ensuring adequate nutritional status for pregnant women and lactating mothers, improving birth weights and promoting growth of infants, children and adolescents to achieve their full genetic potential and preventing chronic diet- related disorders.
The NINs new guidelines suggest consuming nutritionally adequate diet through a wise choice; additional food and extra care during pregnancy and lactation; food supplements for infants by four to six months; consumption of leafy vegetables, and fruits in large quantities; moderate use of oils, sugar and salt; avoidance of processed and ready-to-eat foods.
Statistics indicate that anaemia caused due to malnutrition kills over one lakh pregnant women every year. About 300 million people live in areas where iodine is in short supply. Iodine deficiency leads to a variety of problems. Around one lakh still-births and neonatal deaths occur because of deficiency of iodine in mothers. Because they dont get enough leafy vegetables to eat, or simply overlook them.
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