FOOD

• Food can be obtained from two main sources: plants and animals.
• The parts of a plant that can be used as food are stem, leaves, root, fruits, seeds and flowers.

• Animals are the sources of food for humans and provide milk, eggs, honey, meat, etc.
• Animals can be categorized as herbivores, carnivores, omnivores and scavengers based on
their feeding habits.
• Cooking of food destroys germs, makes it tasty and digestible.
• Food supplies various nutrients for growth, proper functioning and maintenance of the body
and to fight diseases.
• Major nutrients present in food are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
• Carbohydrates and fats are energy giving foods.
• Proteins help in growth and healing of wounds.
• Vitamins protect our body against diseases.
• Minerals are essential for normal growth and function of the body.
• Water makes up 70% of the body and is required for various functions, like digestion and
excretion.
• Roughage helps in smooth movement of the undigested food.
• Foods derived from plants are major sources of roughage for our body.
• If the body of a person loses a lot of water, for example while playing or working in the hot
sun, he may suffer from severe dehydration. As a result, the blood becomes thicker. This
causes severe cramps in the muscles. Extreme cases can even lead to sun stroke. Consumption
of ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) can serve as a remedy.

Some important terms-

NUTRIENTS-The chemical substances present in our food, each of which serves specific
functions for our body.
ROUGHAGE- Fibrous, indigestible material in vegetables which aids the passage of faeces
through the digestive system, thus helping to prevent constipation is called roughage..
BALANCED DIET-A diet containing all the nutrients, water and roughage in the right
proportion is called a balanced diet. It depends on the following factors:
a) Age-A growing child needs more proteins than an adult.
b) Gender-Males need more energy giving foods than females of the same age.
 c) Type of work-A labourer doing hard physical work will need more energy rich food
containing carbohydrates or fats, than an executive sitting in an office and working on a
computer.
MALNUTRITION-Poor health caused by lack of food or essential nutrients in the diet.
DEFICIENCY DISEASES- Diseases caused due to lack of one or more nutrients in the diet
over a long period of time.

Some important minerals

Mineral Sources Importance Deficiency Disease

Iron Liver, eggs, meat, green vegetables Helps in formation of Anaemia

blood

Calcium Milk, milk products, tapioca, finger For strong bones and Weak bones, rickets,
millets teeth tooth decay
Phosphorus Meat, fish, eggs, whole grains For strong bones and Weakness, bad teeth
teeth and bones

Iodine Iodised salt, sea food Working of thyroid Goitre

gland

Revision exercises

A. Choose the correct option:

1. Carbohydrates provide ______ to the body.
a) energy
b) shape
c) protection
d) roughage
2. Protein is a ______ food:
a)energy giving
b)body building
c)protective
d)none of these
3. We use iodine solution to test the presence of_______
a)sugar
b)fat
c)fibres
d)starch
4. Night blindness is caused due to deficiency of_______
a)calcium
b)iron
c)Vitamin A
d)iodine
5. Anaemia is caused due to deficiency of_______
a)calcium
b)iron
c)Vitamin A
d)iodine

B. Answer in brief:
1. Name three good sources of proteins.
Ans. Pulses, soyabean and eggs are good sources of proteins.

2. What are deficiency diseases? Name the deficiency diseases caused by the lack of the
following vitamins- A, C and D.
Ans. Diseases caused by the lack of one or more nutrients in our diet for a long period are
called deficiency diseases.
Vitamin Associated deficiency disease

A Night blindness
 C Scurvy

D Rickets (in children)

3. Write three functions water serves in our body.

Ans. Water serves the following functions in our body:
• It helps in the absorption of nutrients from our food and their transportation in
the body.
• It is required for the maintenance of a constant body temperature.
• Excretion of wastes in the form of sweat and urine requires water.
4. Write three functions roughage serves in our body.
Ans. Roughage serves the following functions of the body:
• It helps in retaining water needed in the body.
• It adds bulk to our food and helps in the proper working of the digestive system.
• It is needed to get rid of undigested food from the body.
C. HOTS
1. A person suffers from constipation inspite of having adequate nutrients in his diet. What
do you think could be the reason for this?
Ans. The person does not have enough roughage which helps in the elimination of
undigested food from the body. So he suffers from constipation.
2. Will balanced diet for a student of your age be the same for a labourer boy of the same
age working at a construction site?
Ans. No, the balanced diet will not be the same for the two boys. Balanced diet varies
with lifestyle. So a labourer boy whose job involves more physical work would require
more energy giving food like carbohydrates and fats than a student.

Questions to be answered in the Classwork copy

1. Write three reasons why we need food.

2. Name some cereals which constitute our staple food. Why cereals are also called grains?
3. Define - (a) poultry (b) apiary (c) apiculture.
4. What are trawlers? How are they used to catch fishes?
5. What is ORS? How can it be made at home? What purpose does it serve?
6. Give reasons:
a) One should abstain from over eating.
b) Labourers need more fat in their diet than people who work in offices.
c) Growing children need more proteins.
d) Excess protein is not stored in the body.
e) Children suffering from malnutrition do not grow properly.
f) We need to cook food before eating.
7. Name two sources of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in our daily diet.
8. How will you test a food item for the presence of starch?
9. State one importance of the following nutrients in our body-
(a) Carbohydrates (b) Proteins (c) Fats
10. In a tabular form, list the names of the diseases caused by the deficiency of the following
nutrients-
(a) Iron (b) Iodine (c) Beriberi (d) Scurvy (e) Rickets