Dietary Guidelines for Indians

1. Maintain a state of positive health and optimal performance in population at large.
2. Ensure adequate nutritional status for pregnant and lactating mothers.
3. Improve birth weights and promote growth of infants. Children and adolescents to achieve their full genetic potential.
4. Achieve adequacy in all nutrients and prevent deficiency diseases.
5. Maintain the health of the elderly and increase the life expectancy.

1. A nutritionally adequate diet should be consumed through a wise choice from a variety of foods.
2. Additional food and extra care are required during pregnancy and lactation.
3. Exclusive breast-feeding should be practiced for 4-6 months. Breast – feeding can be continued up to two years.
4. Food supplements should be introduces to infants by 4-6 months.
5. Children and adolescents, both in health and diseases, should take adequate and appropriate diet.
6. Green leafy vegetables, other vegetables and fruits should be used in plenty.
7. Cooking oils and animal foods should be used in moderation, and vanaspati/ghee/butter should be used only sparingly.
8. Over-eating should be avoided to prevent over-weight and obesity. Proper physical activity is essential to maintain desirable body weight.
9. Salt should be used in moderation.
10. Foods consumed should be safe and clean.
11. Healthy and positive food concepts and cooking practices should be adopted.
12. Water should be taken in adequate amounts and beverages should be consumed in moderation.
13. Processed and ready-to-eat foods should be used judiciously. Sugar should be used sparingly.
14. The elderly should eat a nutrient-rich diet to keep fit and active.

• Nutrition is a basic prerequisite to sustain life.
• Variety in food is not only the spice of life but also the essence of nutrition and health.
• A diet consisting of several food groups provides all the required nutrients in proper amounts.
• Cereals, millets and pulses are major sources of most nutrients.
• Milk that provides good quality proteins and calcium must be an essential item of the diet, particularly for infants, children and women.
• Oils and nuts are calorie-rich foods, and are useful for increasing the energy density.
• Inclusion of eggs, flesh foods and fish enhances the quality of diet. However, vegetarians can derive almost all the nutrients on cereal/pulse/milk-based diets.
• Vegetables and fruits provide protective substances such as vitamins/minerals.

• Pregnancy is physiologically and nutritionally a highly demanding period. Extra food is required satisfying the needs of the foetus.
• A woman prepares herself to meet the nutritional demands by increasing her own body fat deposits during pregnancy.
• A lactating mother requires extra food to secrete adequate quantities of milk and to safeguard her own health.

Eat Iron Rich Foods

• Iron is needed for hemoglobin synthesis, mental function and body defence.
• Deficiency of Iron leads to anemia.
• Iron deficiency is common particularly in women of reproductive age and in children.
• Iron deficiency during pregnancy increases maternal mortality and low birth weight in infants.
• In children, it increases susceptibility to infection and impairs learning ability.
• Plant foods like legumes, dried fruits and green leafy vegetables contain Iron.
• Iron is also obtained through meat, fish and poultry products.
• Iron bioavailability is poor from plant foods but is good from animal foods.
• Fruits rich in Vitamin C like amla, guava and citrus fruits improve Iron absorption from plant foods.
• Beverages like tea bind dietary Iron and make it unavailable. Hence they should be avoided before, during or soon after a meal.

Eat Foliate – Rich Foods

• Folic Acid is essential for the synthesis of hemoglobin.
• Folic acid deficiency leads to macrocytic anemia.
• Pregnant women need more of folic acid.
• Folic acid supplements increase birth weight and reduce congenital anomalies (birth defects).
• Green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts and liver are good sources of folic acid.

• Breast milk is the most natural and perfect food for normal growth and healthy development of infants.
• Colostrums are rich in nutrients and anti-infective factors and should be fed to infants.
• Breast-feeding reduces risk of infections.
• It establishes mother- infant contact and promotes mother-child bonding.
• It prolongs birth interval by fertility control (delayed return of menstruation).
• Breast-feeding helps in retraction of the uterus.
• Incidence of breast cancer in lower in mother who have  breast-fed their children. 
• Start breast-feeding within an hour after delivery and do not discard colostrum. 
• Breast-feed exclusively for a minimum of four to six months.
• Continue breast-feeding even after introduction of supplements (weaning foods), up to 2 years.
• Breast-feed the infant frequently or on demand to establish and maintain good milk supply.
• Take a nutritionally adequate diet both during pregnancy and lactation.
• Avoid tobacco (smoking and chewing), alcohol and drugs during lactation.
• Ensure active family support of breast-feeding.

1. Breast-milk alone is not adequate for the infant beyond 6 months of age.
2. Introduction of food supplements along with breast-feeding is necessary to infants by 6 months of age.
3. Provision of adequate and appropriate supplements to young children prevents malnutrition.
4. Hygienic practices should be observed while preparing and feeding the weaning food to the child; otherwise it will lead to diarrhea.

What should be done if breast-milk is not adequate?

• If breast-feeding fails,every effort has to be made to improve the situation. If it fails then the infant needs to be fed animal milk or commercial infant formula.
• Milk should be boiled before being fed to the baby.
• To start with, milk may be diluted with an equal volume of water.
• Full strength milk may be started from 4 weeks of age.
• Infants fed animal milk should receive supplements of Iron and Vitamin C.
• About C 120-180 ml of milk should be fed with one teaspoon of sugar per feed 6-8 times over the day.
• While reconstituting the infant formula, the instructions given on the label should be strictly followed.
• The feeds should be prepared and given using a sterile cup, spoon, bottles and nipples, taking utmost care.
• Over-feeding should be avoided in artificially fed infants to prevent obesity.
• Low-cost homemade weaning foods are preferred. However, those who can afford them may use commercially available preparations.

• A nutritionally adequate diet is essential for optimal growth and development.
• Appropriate diet during childhood may reduce the risk of diet-related chronic diseases in later life.
• Common infections and malnutrition contribute significantly to child morbidity and mortality.
• A child needs to eat more during and after episodes of infections to maintain good nutritional status.

Eat Calcium-Rich Foods

• Calcium is needed for growth and bone development.
• Calcium prevents osteoporosis (thinning of bones).
• Osteoporosis is more common in women.
• Pregnant and lactating women, children and the elderly require more calcium.
• Milk, curds and nuts are rich sources of bioavailable calcium.
• Ragi and green leafy vegetables also provide calcium.
• Exercise reduces calcium loss from bones.

• Normal diet, to be wholesome and tasty, should include fresh vegetables and fruits.
• Vegetables/fruits are rich sources of micronutrients.
• Fruits and vegetables also provide several non-nutritional factors like fiber and photochemical of vital significance.
• Greens, vegetables (yellow/orange) and fruits help in prevention of micronutrient malnutrition and certain chronic diseases.

Eat Vitamin A rich Foods

• Vitamin A is needed for normal vision.
• Vitamin A deficiency leads to night blindness and changes in eyes.
• Severe vitamin A deficiency leads to blindness in young children.
• Childhood infections like diarrhea, measles and respiratory infections and parasitic infestations reduce absorption of Vitamin A through the gut.
• Milk, eggs, liver and meat are good sources of pre-formed Vitamin A.
• Vitamin A can also be obtained from foods of plant origin in the form of beta-carotene.
• Examples of carotene-rich foods are dark green leafy vegetables such as drumstick leaves, amaranth, methi, palak and fruits and vegetables like carrot, yellow pumpkin, mango and papaya.

• Fats/oils have high-energy value and provide satiety.
• Fats provide essential fatty acids and promote absorption of fat-soluble vitamins.
• Fats are precursors of biologically active compounds in the body.
• Diets that provide excess of calories, fats and cholesterol elevate blood lipids (cholesterol and triglycerides).
• Excessive fat in the diet increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, stroke and cancer.
• III effects of excess dietary fats are initiated early in life.