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NCERT Solutions Curiosity Chapter 6 .4.1 Meeting nutritional needs — Science and Society

Book page 806 Updated on2026-09-05

Q1.
Adolescents, especially girls, may sometimes suffer from blood-related health problem(s) because of a deficiency of iron or vitamin B12 in the body. Find out about such health problem(s).
Answer

The commonest such problem is anaemia. In anaemia the blood does not have enough healthy red blood cells or enough haemoglobin, the red substance in them that carries oxygen. Every organ then gets less oxygen than it needs.

DeficiencyHealth problemHow it shows
IronIron-deficiency anaemiaTiredness and weakness, pale skin, nails and inner eyelids, breathlessness after mild exercise, giddiness, poor concentration in class, headache
Vitamin B12 (or folic acid)Anaemia with unusually large red blood cellsTiredness, pale skin, sore tongue, tingling or numbness in hands and feet, weakness, poor memory
Why adolescent girls are affected more: the body needs extra iron during the growth spurt of adolescence, and girls also lose some blood every month during menstruation. If the diet does not supply enough iron, the stores run down and anaemia develops.
Check it yourself: pull down the lower eyelid gently and look at the inner side. In a healthy person it is pink. A very pale, whitish colour is one simple sign a doctor looks for. Only a blood test can confirm anaemia.
Q2.
How can we manage iron deficiency in our body?
Answer

Mainly by eating more iron-rich food, by helping the body absorb that iron, and by taking the supplements a doctor prescribes.

  1. Eat iron-rich foods every day — spinach and other green leafy vegetables, kidney beans (rajma), chana, other pulses, bajra and ragi, jaggery (gur), groundnuts, and dried fruits like raisins and figs. Non-vegetarian families can add eggs, liver, fish and meat.
  2. Add vitamin C to the same meal — amla, lemon, guava, orange or tomato. Vitamin C makes the iron in plant food much easier for the body to absorb. A squeeze of lemon on dal or chana is enough.
  3. Avoid tea or coffee right after a meal; they reduce iron absorption. Drink them well away from meal times.
  4. Cook in an iron kadhai or tawa — a small amount of iron passes into the food.
  5. Take iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets if a doctor or your school's health programme gives them, and get deworming tablets as advised — worms in the intestine cause slow blood loss.
  6. Get a blood test if the tiredness and paleness continue, and follow the doctor's advice instead of self-medicating.
Tip: Iron tablets can make the stools dark — that is harmless and expected. Never stop the course halfway; the body's iron stores take weeks to refill.
Q3.
Find out about government schemes aimed to prevent such deficiencies.
Answer

The Government of India runs several programmes so that no child or adolescent goes short of iron and other nutrients. The main ones are:

SchemeWhat it does
Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB)A nationwide strategy to reduce anaemia. Weekly iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets for school children and adolescents, deworming twice a year, testing and treatment.
Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS)One IFA tablet every week to adolescent girls and boys through schools and anganwadis, with awareness sessions.
Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK)Improves the overall health of adolescents — nutrition, anaemia, menstrual health and hygiene — through peer educators and adolescent-friendly health clinics.
PM POSHAN (Mid-Day Meal Scheme)A cooked, nutritious meal every school day, so that growing children get proteins, iron and other nutrients.
POSHAN Abhiyaan and ICDS / Anganwadi servicesSupplementary nutrition, growth monitoring and nutrition education for children, adolescent girls, and pregnant and nursing mothers.
Food fortificationFortified rice in government schemes, and double-fortified salt (iodine + iron), so that everyday food itself supplies iron.
Try This: Visit the nearest anganwadi or your school health register and find out which of these your own school takes part in, and on which day of the week the IFA tablet is given.
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