NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 3 Activity 3.8: Let us find out — — Is your own diet balanced?

Book page 51 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
You have listed food consumed by you during the week in Activity 3.1. Check whether your food contains all the nutrients and other essential components necessary for growth and development. If not, check which nutrients or other food components need to be added.
Answer

Take your week's table and tick each component day by day. A blank row shows exactly what is missing.

ComponentWhich of my foods gave itEnough?
CarbohydrateRice, chapati, poha, potato — every dayYes, sometimes too much
ProteinDal, rajma, curd, milk — five days out of sevenAlmost; add milk or dal on the other two days
FatCooking oil, peanuts, butterYes
VitaminsFruit only three days; green vegetable four daysNo — add a fruit daily
MineralsMilk, iodised salt, green vegetablesIron is low — add palak, beetroot, jaggery
RoughageVegetables, but very little raw salad or whole grainNo — add salad and whole grains
WaterWater, buttermilk, milkYes, if 6–8 glasses a day
Sample conclusion: My diet has plenty of energy food but too little fruit, raw vegetable and iron. I need to add one seasonal fruit every day, a salad with lunch, and green leafy vegetables twice a week.
Why write it down: everybody believes their own food is fine. A written seven-day record turns a belief into evidence — and the gaps become impossible to miss.
Q2.
A diet that has all essential nutrients, roughage, and water in the right amount for proper growth and development of the body is known as a balanced diet. What changes would you make in your diet to make it a balanced diet?
Answer

Definition first: a balanced diet is a diet that has all essential nutrients, roughage and water in the right amount for proper growth and development of the body.

Changes I would make:

  1. Add one seasonal fruit daily — guava, banana, orange or papaya — for vitamins and fibre.
  2. Add a raw salad of cucumber, tomato, carrot and onion with lunch.
  3. Include dal, rajma, chana or milk every single day for protein.
  4. Replace some polished rice or maida with whole grains and millets — bajra, jowar, ragi roti.
  5. Use iodised salt, and add it after cooking.
  6. Cut down junk food — wafers, candy and cold drinks — to a rare treat.
  7. Drink enough water through the day, and buttermilk in summer.
  8. Do not overcook vegetables, and wash them before cutting.
A balanced Indian plateWhat it supplies
Chapati or rice (or bajra roti)Carbohydrate — energy
Dal or rajma or an eggProtein — growth and repair
A cooked vegetable + a raw saladVitamins, minerals, roughage
Curd or a glass of milkProtein and calcium
A little ghee or oil, and a fruitFat, and Vitamin C
WaterAbsorption of nutrients, removal of waste
Why a thali is naturally balanced: the traditional Indian thali was designed long before nutrients were discovered, and it already puts a cereal, a pulse, a vegetable, curd and a little fat on the same plate. Science only explained later why the combination works.
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