The food which we eat during the whole day is called our diet. A diet consists of many food items made from cereals (like wheat and rice), pulses, fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, eggs and milk, etc., which supply all the nutrients to the body. The diet which contains adequate amounts of all the nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins and minerals (sufficient for the normal growth and development of the body), is called a balanced diet. A balanced diet also contains sufficient amount of water and roughage.
Some food items are rich in carbohydrates, some are rich in fats, while others may contain more of proteins, vitamins and minerals. No single food item can provide us all the essential nutrients in adequate amounts. So, in order to make a balanced diet, we should include a number of different food items in our daily meals which, taken together, provide us all the nutrients in adequate amounts. We should also drink sufficient water and eat roughage-containing foods.
A balanced diet should contain enough food items from each of the following groups:
1. Cereals (wheat and rice preparations), Potatoes, Sugar, etc. (to provide carbohydrates).
2. Butter, Ghee and Oil (to provide fats).
3. Pulses (Dal), Peas, Milk, Cheese, Fish, Meat, Chicken and Eggs, etc. (to provide proteins). 4. Vegetables and Fruits (to provide vitamins, minerals and roughage).
5. Water.
A balanced diet is not the same for all age groups or occupations. A balanced diet depends on the age of the person and also on the occupation of the person (type of work done by the person). This is discussed below.
Dependence of Diet on Age :-
A child and a grown up man are of different age, so the balanced diet of a child is different from that of a grown up man. A growing child needs more proteins in his diet than a grown up man (in comparison to his body weight). This extra protein is needed to make the body tissues of the fast growing child. So, the diet of a growing child should contain more of protein-rich foods than the diet of a grown up man. A growing child also needs more minerals like calcium and phosphorus for the formation of bones, than a grown up man.