ICMR Dietary Guidelines: Top 5 Tips To Consider Including In Your Diet
Jul 25 2024 / Posted in Child nutrition
-By Sushmita Das (Director-Monitoring, Evaluation and Research) and Sanika Kulkarni, (Coordinator- Monitoring and Evaluation)
Being healthy should be part of your overall lifestyle. Living a healthy lifestyle can help prevent chronic diseases and long-term illnesses that can be maintained by doing what is right for your body, which means a healthy diet is essential for good health and nutrition. Consuming a variety of healthy foods and consuming less salt, sugars and saturated, industrially-produced trans-fats and ultra-processed foods are essential for a good diet.
Health has become a major issue as increasing urbanization has created lifestyles that prevent the population from taking time out to maintain proper diets. Fast-foods have become the norm and this is taking a toll on the health status of people. Foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, tubers, and legumes for instance are very crucial in modern diets to ensure normal functioning of an individual. Good diet can be supported by resources like safe drinking water and healthy raw materials for foods.
Having a healthy diet becomes equally important for mothers as well as young children. For mothers, a proper diet is essential during pregnancy, childbirth and post pregnancy as well. For children, a healthy diet plays an important role in their physical and mental development in their formative years and influence their habits in the future as well.
This helps in proper well-being of the population. In this context, the & Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has prescribed dietary guidelines for women, children, adolescents, adults and elders. Here are a few top dietary tips that you can follow for healthy living:
1) Eat a variety of foods to ensure a balanced diet
To consume a well-balanced diet, it is important to ensure variety within the food groups with addition of oilseeds and nuts in the daily diet. This will lead to adequate consumption of macro and micro nutrients essential for maintaining physiological and biochemical processes of the body. The quantity of the food consumed should be in accordance with age, gender and physical activity performed by the individual, which can otherwise lead to malnourishment. Through our interventions, we have encouraged women to consume a wide variety of food from every food group which is fresh and local. Special dietary recommendations are made for pregnant, lactating women and children who are undernourished.
2) Use of oil/fats in moderation; choose a variety of oil seeds, nuts, nutri cereals, and legumes to meet daily needs of fats and essential fatty acids (EFA)
By choosing a variety of oil seeds, nuts, nutri cereals, and legumes, you can ensure that you're meeting your daily needs for fats and EFAs while also benefiting from the array of other nutrients these foods provide. This approach supports well-being and reduces the risk of nutrient deficiencies. While oils and fats provide energy, their consumption should be in moderation as excessive amounts of fats increases weight and risk of chronic diseases like obesity, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
3) Obtain good quality proteins and essential amino acids (EAA) through appropriate combination of foods and avoid protein supplements to build muscle mass
Dietary protein can be attained from animal products like meat, poultry, fish and egg. Vegetarian sources include pulses like lentils, nuts and seeds and milk. Protein quality is enhanced when pulses are eaten in combination with cereals or cereals in combination with fresh food and milk. Protein should be included in all meals according to the dietary requirement of the person. Consumption of protein rich food has been encouraged in the community to maintain muscle mass and development.
4) Ensure provision of extra food and healthcare during pregnancy
Pregnancy is a condition which is physiologically demanding. Along with extra food consumption, it is necessary for them to consume iron, folic acid and calcium supplements. It is essential that women gain weight during the course of their pregnancy by consuming nutrient dense foods. The women are advised to avoid consumption of highly processed food items and encouraged consumption of good quality protein and iron rich food during pregnancy. Women who consume a balanced diet will have better outcomes at birth and optimal fetal development which leads to overall healthy development of the child and mother.
5) Ensure exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months and continue till two years and beyond
Breastfeeding should be initiated as soon as the baby is born. It helps to improve the mother-child bond. The colostrum (first breast milk) should be given to the baby after birth as it is nutrient rich, provides immune support and has protective factors. During the first six months after the baby is born, only breastmilk should be given to the baby as it provides long term health benefits and reduces risk of infections. Breastfeeding should be continued even after six months along with consumption of nutrient rich foods until two years of age. Breastfeeding also reduces the loss of blood after delivery and the risk of occurrence of cancers in the mothers along with other diseases. For adequate milk production, the mother must consume a balanced diet.
6) Start feeding homemade semisolid complementary foods to the infant soon after six months of age
After six months of age, it is advised along with breast milk, semi-solid foods should be given to the baby as the nutritional requirements of the baby increase. The food given should be nutrient dense and should be semi solid and not too watery. The food should include cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables, and if possible fresh foods or eggs. The number of feedings depend on the age of the child. Through various interventions, women are encouraged to feed home-made foods along, avoid sugar and processed foods.
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