NCERT Solutions for Class 4th The World Around Us Chapter 5 A Balanced Food Plate — Activity 1: Make a Food Diary

Book page 79 Updated on2026-09-19

Q1.

Create a food diary of your daily routine for a week. Write down what you eat in a day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. An example is given. Expand the table for a week.

Days	Time	Food eaten
Day 1	Breakfast	Idli, Sambhar, Chutney
	Lunch
	Dinner
Day 2	Breakfast
	Lunch
	Dinner

The food diary table printed on page 79. Only the first line is filled in as an example.

Answer

Copy the table into your notebook and add rows until you have Day 1 to Day 7. Fill it in every evening, while you still remember.

Days	Time	Food eaten
Day 1	Breakfast	Idli, Sambhar, Chutney
	Lunch
	Dinner
Day 2	Breakfast
	Lunch
	Dinner

The food diary table printed on page 79. Only the first line is filled in as an example.

Step 1 — Draw three columns: Days, Time, Food eaten.
Step 2 — Give each day three lines: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Step 3 — Write the real food, not the food you wish you had eaten.
Step 4 — Repeat for seven days.

Sample answer (first two days):

Days	Time	Food eaten
Day 1	Breakfast	Idli, Sambhar, Chutney
	Lunch	Rice, dal, bhindi, curd
	Dinner	Roti, palak, one banana
Day 2	Breakfast	Poha with peanuts, a glass of milk
	Lunch	Roti, rajma, salad
	Dinner	Khichdi, curd, one orange

Why it happens: A week is long enough to show a habit. One day can be unusual; seven days show what you really eat.

Tip: Also write down snacks you eat between meals. They are part of the day’s food too.

Q2.

Encircle the food items that are healthy and put an ‘X’ mark for items which are not healthy.

Answer

Go through your diary line by line. Draw a circle around a healthy item and a small X beside an unhealthy one.

Days	Time	Food eaten
Day 1	Breakfast	Idli, Sambhar, Chutney
	Lunch
	Dinner
Day 2	Breakfast
	Lunch
	Dinner

The food diary table printed on page 79. Only the first line is filled in as an example.

How to decide:

Circle it if…	Put an X if…
It is fresh and home-cooked	It came out of a packet and was over-processed
It is a fruit, a vegetable, a dal, milk or curd	It is mostly oil, salt or sugar
It is a grain or millet dish like roti, rice, upma	It is a cold drink or a fried snack

Sample answer on the two days above: circle idli, sambhar, chutney, rice, dal, bhindi, curd, roti, palak, banana, poha, milk, rajma, salad, khichdi, orange. If a cold drink or a packet of chips appears anywhere in the week, mark it with an X.

Why it happens: Marking makes the diary easy to read at one glance. The circles show what is already good; the X marks show what to eat less often.

Tip: Do not feel bad about an X. It is only a note to yourself for the coming week.

Q3.

Identify the food groups missing in your daily routine. Discuss with your parents how these items can be included in the daily routine.

Answer

Sort every circled item into the three food groups. The group with the fewest items is the one missing from your routine.

Days	Time	Food eaten
Day 1	Breakfast	Idli, Sambhar, Chutney
	Lunch
	Dinner
Day 2	Breakfast
	Lunch
	Dinner

The food diary table printed on page 79. Only the first line is filled in as an example.

Food group	What I ate this week	Is it enough?
Energy-giving	Rice, roti, poha, khichdi, ghee	Yes
Body-building	Dal, rajma, curd, milk, peanuts	Yes
Protective	Bhindi, palak, banana, orange, salad	Could be more — only on some days

Sample answer: “Fruits and vegetables were missing on three days. My mother said we can keep a bowl of fruit on the table, add one green vegetable at dinner, and put salad in my tiffin.”

A balanced plate looks like this:

A balanced food plate made from the rule given on page 79.

Why it happens: A balanced plate has protective foods (fruits and vegetables) the most, then body-building foods, then some energy-giving foods. If one part is missing, the plate is not balanced.

Tip: Water is part of the diet too. Keep a glass of water with every meal.

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