PAGE 1: How we will learn OVERVIEW ======== A balanced meal has variety and the right amounts of food. In this sub-strand you will sort foods into energy-giving, body-building and protective groups, build a balanced meal from foods found at home, explain how that meal helps the body, and keep a one-week record of what you eat. ## Strand 2.0: Food Production Processes Sub-strand 2.4: Balanced Meal Suggested lessons: 9 ## Source • KICD Grade 4 Agriculture Curriculum Design (Revised 2024) — Strand 2.0 Food Production Processes, Sub-strand 2.4 Balanced Meal ## Learning outcomes By the end of the sub-strand, the learner should be able to: a) explain importance of eating a balanced meal b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal c) appreciate the importance of eating a balanced meal ## Key inquiry questions 1. How does a balanced meal impact on health? ## Learning experiences • discuss or use digital devices to search for importance of eating a balanced meal (variety and proportion) • select foods from locally available foods to comprise a balanced meal (energy giving, body building and protective foods) • keep a journal for one week on meals they take to appreciate the importance of a balanced meal ## Core competencies • Communication and collaboration: team work as learners contribute in the discussion on importance of a balanced meal. ## Values • Unity: collaboration with others as learners select foods to comprise balanced meal. ## Pertinent and contemporary issues • Health awareness promotion as learners discuss the importance of eating a balanced meal. ## Links to other learning areas • Learners relate the importance of eating balanced meal to knowledge learnt in Science and Technology on healthy eating habits. LESSON 1: VARIETY AND PROPORTION IN A MEAL ========================================== ## What you will learn • Explain what a balanced meal is. • Describe variety and proportion in a meal. Curriculum outcomes: a) explain importance of eating a balanced meal; b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction Lunch might be a big plate of ugali with nothing else, or a small plate that has ugali, beans and sukuma wiki. Both plates have food, but they do not feed the body in the same way. PAGE 2: Lesson 1: Variety and proportion in a meal — Notes 1 ## Notes A meal is the food eaten at one time, such as breakfast, lunch or supper. A balanced meal has the right kinds of food in the right amounts. Two ideas help us judge a meal: variety and proportion. Variety means the meal is made from different kinds of food, not from one food only. Foods fall into three groups. Energy-giving foods supply fuel for walking, playing, learning and working. Body-building foods help the body grow and repair worn-out parts. Protective foods help the body stay well and resist some illnesses. A meal has variety when it includes food from all three groups. Proportion means how much of each kind of food is on the plate. The body uses a lot of energy, so the energy-giving food is the largest part of the meal. The body-building food is a smaller part, but it must be present. Protective food must also appear every day, in an amount you can see, not a tiny scrap left at the edge. A huge plate of only ugali is not balanced. A plate of only meat is not balanced either. PAGE 3: Lesson 1: Variety and proportion in a meal — Notes 3 Picture a plate with three parts. The biggest part holds energy-giving food such as ugali, rice, chapati or potatoes. A smaller part holds body-building food such as beans, fish, eggs or milk. Another part holds vegetables, and a fruit can be eaten with the meal or just after it. Clean drinking water is taken as well. Water is not one of the three food groups, but the body needs it every day. Before you eat, ask two questions. Does this meal have all three groups? Is the energy-giving food the largest part, with enough body-building food and protective food beside it? [DIAGRAM] TYPE: svg ALT: A balanced plate has all three food groups, with energy-giving food as the largest part PAYLOAD: CAPTION: A balanced plate has all three food groups, with energy-giving food as the largest part [/DIAGRAM] PAGE 4: Lesson 1: Variety and proportion in a meal — Answers to practice ## Key words • balanced meal — a meal that has all three food groups in suitable amounts • variety — including different kinds of food, not one food only • proportion — the amount of each kind of food in a meal ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A learner eats only rice for lunch. Does the meal have variety? Does it have a good proportion? Working: 1. Rice is an energy-giving food. 2. There is no body-building food and no protective food. 3. One group only means there is no variety, and the amounts are not balanced. Answer: No. The meal lacks variety and does not have a good proportion because two food groups are missing. ## Activity: Talk about variety and proportion You will need: Exercise book, Pencil, Chalkboard 1. In groups, discuss what you ate yesterday for breakfast, lunch and supper. 2. For each meal, say whether it had variety, and whether the amounts looked balanced. 3. Agree on one sentence that explains why variety and proportion matter. 4. Share that sentence with the class. ## Practice 1. What is a balanced meal? 2. What is the difference between variety and proportion? 3. Which part of a balanced plate should be the largest? ## Answers to practice 1. A meal that contains energy-giving, body-building and protective foods in suitable amounts. 2. Variety means the meal has different food groups. Proportion means the amount of each group is suitable. 3. The energy-giving food. ## Summary • A balanced meal has variety and suitable proportion. • The three groups are energy-giving, body-building and protective foods. • Energy-giving food is the largest part, but the other two groups must be there. PAGE 5: Lesson 2: Energy-giving foods — Notes 2 LESSON 2: ENERGY-GIVING FOODS ============================= ## What you will learn • Name energy-giving foods found locally. • Explain what energy-giving foods do in the body. Curriculum outcomes: b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction By mid-morning break you may feel ready to run, sing or keep writing. The fuel for that work comes mainly from energy-giving foods eaten earlier in the day. ## Notes Energy-giving foods provide the fuel the body uses to move, keep warm, learn and do farm or house work. They are mainly foods rich in carbohydrates, together with foods rich in fats and oils. Carbohydrate foods grown and eaten in many Kenyan homes include maize and foods made from it, such as ugali, porridge and githeri. Rice, wheat foods such as chapati and bread, millet, sorghum, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, arrowroots, yams and green bananas also give energy. These foods are usually the main part of a meal because the body needs a lot of fuel. Fats and oils give a lot of energy in a small amount. Cooking oil, butter, margarine, coconut and groundnuts are examples. A little fat in a meal helps the body get enough energy, but fat should not replace the rest of the meal. Groundnuts also help to build the body, so they are useful in more than one way. Energy-giving food should be the largest part of the plate. That does not mean the plate should hold only ugali or only chips. Without the other groups, the body gets fuel but misses the materials it needs to grow and to stay well. Children use energy for play and for school work. Adults use energy for digging, carrying water, cooking and other work. If a meal has too little energy-giving food, a person may feel tired and weak before the day is over. If almost all the food is fried and oily, the meal is heavy in fat and may still lack vegetables and body-building food. When you help to serve food, give a good serving of the staple food, then add the other groups. The staple is the energy-giving food your family eats most often. PAGE 6: Lesson 2: Energy-giving foods — Answers to practice ## Key words • energy-giving food — food that supplies fuel for work, play and warmth • carbohydrate — a nutrient in foods such as maize, rice and potatoes that gives energy • staple food — the main energy-giving food a family eats most often ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Sort these foods into carbohydrate foods and fatty foods: ugali, cooking oil, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, rice. Working: 1. Ugali, sweet potatoes and rice are carbohydrate foods made from cereals or roots. 2. Cooking oil is a fat. 3. Groundnuts give fat and also help to build the body. Answer: Carbohydrates: ugali, sweet potatoes, rice. Fat: cooking oil. Groundnuts give both energy from fat and body-building food. ## Activity: Select energy-giving foods from home You will need: Exercise book, Pictures of local foods or real food samples if the teacher provides them 1. List energy-giving foods that are easy to find where you live. 2. Mark which ones are cereals, which are roots or tubers, and which are fats or oils. 3. Choose one staple food your family eats often and say which meal uses it. 4. Compare lists with another group and add any food you had missed. ## Practice 1. Give four energy-giving foods that can be the main part of a meal. 2. Why is energy-giving food the largest part of a balanced meal? 3. Name two foods that give energy mainly as fat or oil. ## Answers to practice 1. Any four, for example ugali, rice, chapati, bread, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava, arrowroots, millet or sorghum. 2. The body uses a lot of energy for moving, learning and working. 3. Any two: cooking oil, butter, margarine, coconut, groundnuts. PAGE 7: Lesson 3: Body-building foods ## Summary • Cereals, roots and tubers are the main energy-giving foods. • Fats and oils give a lot of energy in a small amount. • Energy-giving food should be the largest part of the plate, together with the other groups. LESSON 3: BODY-BUILDING FOODS ============================= ## What you will learn • Name body-building foods from animals and from plants. • State why growing children need body-building foods. Curriculum outcomes: b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction A torn shirt can be mended with cloth and thread. The body also needs materials to grow taller and to mend parts that are worn out. Those materials come from body-building foods. ## Notes Body-building foods are rich in proteins. Proteins are the nutrients the body uses to grow and to repair skin, muscles and other parts. Children need them every day because they are still growing. A person who is healing a wound or recovering from illness also needs them. Some body-building foods come from animals. These include meat, fish, omena and other small fish, chicken, eggs, milk and foods made from milk. They are good body-builders. They are not always the cheapest foods, so many families do not eat them at every meal. PAGE 8: Lesson 3: Body-building foods — Notes 2 Other body-building foods come from plants. Beans, peas, green grams, cowpeas and groundnuts are important because they can be grown or bought in many places and stored dry. A meal of githeri already contains maize for energy and beans for body-building. It still needs a vegetable or a fruit before it is a balanced meal. The body-building portion is smaller than the energy-giving portion. A spoonful of meat stew or a serving of beans beside a larger serving of ugali or rice is a suitable proportion. Leaving body-building food out day after day does not give the body enough material for growth. Plant and animal body-building foods can be used in the same week. Monday might have beans, Wednesday an egg, and Saturday a little fish, with milk when it is available. Variety inside this group is useful, but even one reliable body-building food, eaten regularly, is better than none. When you select food for a meal, point to the body-building food on purpose. Do not assume it is there just because the plate looks full. ## Key words • body-building food — food rich in proteins, used for growth and repair • protein — a nutrient that helps the body grow and repair itself ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A family has maize, beans, milk and mangoes. Which foods are body-building? Working: 1. Maize is energy-giving. 2. Beans and milk are body-building. 3. Mangoes are protective. Answer: Beans and milk. ## Activity: Match body-building foods to a meal You will need: Food cards or a list of local foods, Exercise book 1. Sort the foods into those from animals and those from plants. 2. Choose two body-building foods that your family can get this week. 3. Pair each one with an energy-giving food to start a meal. 4. Tell the group why a growing child should not skip this group. PAGE 9: Lesson 4: Protective foods ## Practice 1. What do body-building foods help the body to do? 2. Name two body-building foods from animals and two from plants. 3. Why is githeri alone not yet a balanced meal? ## Answers to practice 1. They help the body to grow and to repair worn-out parts. 2. Animals: any two of meat, fish, eggs, milk, chicken. Plants: any two of beans, peas, green grams, cowpeas, groundnuts. 3. Githeri has maize and beans, but it still needs a protective food such as a vegetable or a fruit. ## Summary • Body-building foods supply proteins for growth and repair. • They come from animals and from legumes such as beans and peas. • The serving is smaller than the energy-giving food, but it should be eaten regularly. LESSON 4: PROTECTIVE FOODS ========================== ## What you will learn • Name fruits and vegetables that protect the body. • Explain why protective foods should be eaten every day. Curriculum outcomes: b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction Sukuma wiki beside the ugali, a tomato in the stew, or an orange at break all do a quiet job. They help the body stay well, which is why they are called protective foods. PAGE 10: Lesson 4: Protective foods — Notes 2 ## Notes Protective foods are mainly fruits and vegetables. They supply vitamins and minerals. Vitamins and minerals do not give much energy, but they help the eyes, skin, bones, blood and gums to work properly, and they help the body resist some illnesses. Vegetables used in many homes include sukuma wiki, spinach, cabbage, kunde and other green leaves, tomatoes, onions, carrots and green peppers. Dark green leaves and orange vegetables are especially useful. They should be washed in clean water before cooking or eating. Fruits include mangoes, oranges, ripe bananas, pawpaws, pineapples, avocados, guavas and passion fruit, depending on what grows where you live. A fruit can be the protective part of breakfast or a snack, or it can finish lunch. Wash fruit that is eaten raw. Cook green vegetables in a little water for a short time so that they stay a bright colour. If they are boiled for a very long time, some of their goodness passes into the water or is lost. The cooking water from vegetables can be used in a stew instead of being thrown away. On the plate, protective food should be easy to see. A single leaf on a large mound of ugali is not enough. Add a real serving of vegetables, and eat fruit through the week. People who rarely eat this group may feel unwell more often, may have skin or gum problems, or may struggle to see well in dim light. Those are reasons to eat fruits and vegetables every day, not only when someone is already ill. Protective foods do not replace energy-giving or body-building foods. They complete the meal. ## Key words • protective food — fruits and vegetables that help the body stay well • vitamins — nutrients in fruits and vegetables that protect the body • minerals — nutrients such as iron and calcium that the body needs in small amounts ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Which of these are protective foods: cabbage, cooking oil, pawpaw, eggs, carrots? Working: 1. Cabbage, pawpaw and carrots are vegetables or fruits. 2. Cooking oil is energy-giving. 3. Eggs are body-building. Answer: Cabbage, pawpaw and carrots. PAGE 11: Lesson 4: Protective foods — Answers to practice ## Activity: Search for protective foods around you You will need: Exercise book, Digital device if the school has one, or food pictures 1. In pairs, list fruits and vegetables that grow or are sold where you live. 2. If a digital device is available, search for the importance of fruits and vegetables and write two facts in your own words. 3. If there is no device, use class discussion and the teacher's guidance for the same two facts. 4. Choose one vegetable and one fruit you can eat this week. ## Practice 1. Why are fruits and vegetables called protective foods? 2. Give three vegetables and three fruits that can be part of a meal. 3. Why should green vegetables not be boiled for a very long time? ## Answers to practice 1. They supply vitamins and minerals that help the body stay well. 2. Vegetables: any three such as sukuma wiki, spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots. Fruits: any three such as mango, orange, banana, pawpaw, avocado. 3. Long boiling can destroy some of their goodness or wash it into the water. ## Summary • Fruits and vegetables are the protective foods. • They should be eaten every day in a serving you can see. • Wash them, and cook green vegetables lightly. PAGE 12: Lesson 5: Building a balanced meal from local foods — Notes 1 LESSON 5: BUILDING A BALANCED MEAL FROM LOCAL FOODS =================================================== ## What you will learn • Select locally available foods from each group to make a balanced meal. • Judge whether a given meal is balanced. Curriculum outcomes: b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction You do not need rare or costly foods to eat well. The maize, beans, leafy vegetables and fruit already found in your community can make a balanced meal if you choose them together. ## Notes Selecting a balanced meal means picking one or more foods from each group, in suitable amounts, from what is really available. Start with the energy-giving food your family uses as a staple. Add a body-building food you can get that day. Finish with a vegetable or a fruit. Here are meals that use ordinary foods: - Ugali, bean stew and sukuma wiki, with a banana afterwards - Rice, fish and cabbage - Chapati, eggs and sliced tomato, plus an orange - Sweet potatoes, a cup of milk and pawpaw - Githeri with steamed spinach - Porridge and milk at breakfast, with a fruit at break Githeri already joins maize and beans. Adding a vegetable makes the meal balanced. Tea with milk gives some body-building food, but tea and mandazi alone are mostly energy-giving. Add an egg, milk in a real serving, or beans, and a fruit. Proportion still matters when you serve. Fill the largest part of the plate with the staple. Put a smaller serving of the stew, fish, egg or milk beside it. Put vegetables where they are not hidden. If fruit is the protective food, set it on the table so it is actually eaten. Use foods that are in season where you live. When mangoes are many, they are a good protective food. When the family has harvested beans, beans can be the body-building food for many meals. Changing the combination through the week adds variety even when money is limited. A meal can be balanced at home or in the school kitchen. The same three groups are used. What changes is which local foods you pick. PAGE 13: Lesson 5: Building a balanced meal from local foods — Select foods for a balanced plate ## Key words • locally available — foods that are grown or sold where you live and can be obtained • serving — the amount of a food given to one person at a meal ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Improve this meal so that it is balanced: boiled potatoes and tea without milk. Working: 1. Potatoes are energy-giving. Plain tea adds almost no other group. 2. Add a body-building food such as beans, eggs or milk. 3. Add a protective food such as sukuma wiki or a fruit. Answer: For example, boiled potatoes, bean stew and sukuma wiki, or potatoes, milk and an orange. ## Activity: Select foods for a balanced plate You will need: Cards or slips of paper, Pencils, Manila paper 1. Write local foods on slips and sort them into the three groups. 2. In groups, select foods that make breakfast, lunch and supper balanced. 3. Draw each meal as a plate and label the groups. 4. Present one meal to the class and explain the variety and the proportion. ## Practice 1. Make one balanced lunch using ugali and two other foods. 2. Why is tea and mandazi not a balanced meal? 3. How can githeri be made into a balanced meal? 4. Name a balanced breakfast that uses foods from home. ## Answers to practice 1. Ugali with a body-building food and a protective food, for example ugali, beans and sukuma wiki. 2. They are mostly energy-giving foods. A body-building food and a protective food are missing. 3. Add a vegetable or a fruit, because maize and beans already cover energy and body-building. 4. Any meal with all three groups, for example porridge with milk and a banana, or sweet potatoes, an egg and pawpaw. ## Summary • Pick a staple, a body-building food, and a fruit or vegetable. • Use foods that are available where you live. • Serve the staple as the largest part and keep the other foods visible. LESSON 6: HOW A BALANCED MEAL AFFECTS HEALTH ============================================ ## What you will learn • Explain how a balanced meal helps growth, energy and health. • Relate balanced meals to healthy eating habits. Curriculum outcomes: a) explain importance of eating a balanced meal; c) appreciate the importance of eating a balanced meal ## Introduction The question for this sub-strand is simple: how does a balanced meal affect health? The answer shows up in how you grow, how long you can work or play, and how well you fight everyday illness. PAGE 14: Lesson 6: How a balanced meal affects health — Notes 4 ## Notes A balanced meal feeds the body in three ways at once. The energy-giving food lets you walk to school, play, dig, cook and stay alert in class. The body-building food gives the material for growing taller and stronger and for repairing the body. The protective food supplies vitamins and minerals that keep eyes, skin, bones, teeth and blood healthy and help the body resist some illnesses. Health here means more than not being in bed. A well-fed learner can concentrate, has energy for games, and recovers better from ordinary cuts and colds. Eating a balanced meal often, not only on a special day, is what builds that health. One good lunch cannot replace a whole week of meals that leave out a food group. Missing a group has signs you can understand without any complicated test. Too little energy-giving food leaves a person tired and weak. Too little body-building food, day after day, slows growth and repair. Too few fruits and vegetables can leave the body less protected, so the person may fall ill more easily. These are reasons to care about what is on the plate, not reasons to be afraid of food. Healthy eating habits support the balanced meal. Eat at regular times instead of only nibbling. Wash your hands before you eat. Drink clean water. Do not fill up on sweets and sugary drinks so that you have no room for the three food groups. Chew food well. Eat a variety through the week rather than the same single food every day. You learnt in Science and Technology that healthy habits protect the body. Choosing a balanced meal is one of those habits. It is a choice you can practise at home and talk about when food is being served. ## Key words • health — the state of a body that can grow, work and resist illness • habit — something you do regularly PAGE 15: Lesson 6: How a balanced meal affects health — Discuss how a balanced meal affects health ## Worked examples ### Example 1 A learner feels tired every afternoon and the only lunch is black tea and one mandazi. Which part of a balanced meal is missing, and how can that affect health? Working: 1. The lunch is mostly a small energy food, with no real body-building or protective food. 2. The body is short of fuel and of the other nutrients. 3. The learner can feel weak and is not well protected. Answer: Body-building and protective foods are missing, and the energy food is small. The learner may stay tired, grow poorly and fall ill more easily. ## Activity: Discuss how a balanced meal affects health You will need: Exercise book, Digital device if available 1. In groups, discuss how a balanced meal helps energy, growth and protection from illness. 2. If you can, use a digital device to search for the importance of a balanced meal, then rewrite two points in your own words. 3. Each group shares one way a balanced meal affects health. 4. Write a short note on why you would like your family to eat this way. ## Practice 1. State three ways a balanced meal helps the body. 2. What may happen if body-building foods are left out for a long time? 3. Give two healthy eating habits that support a balanced meal. ## Answers to practice 1. It gives energy for work and play, materials for growth and repair, and protection that helps the body stay well. 2. Growth and repair of the body can be poor. 3. Any two: eat regular meals, wash hands before eating, drink clean water, do not fill up on sweets, eat a variety through the week. ## Summary • A balanced meal supports energy, growth and protection. • Leaving out a food group affects health over time. • Regular meals, clean hands and clean water are part of healthy eating. LESSON 7: IMPROVING MEALS THAT ARE NOT BALANCED =============================================== ## What you will learn • Spot which food group is missing from a meal. • Add a suitable local food to balance the meal. Curriculum outcomes: a) explain importance of eating a balanced meal; b) select food from different food groups to make a balanced meal ## Introduction Many meals are only one food short of being balanced. If you can name the missing group, you can often fix the plate with something already in the kitchen or the garden. PAGE 16: Lesson 7: Improving meals that are not balanced — Notes 2 ## Notes Checking a meal is a simple routine. List every food on the plate. Put each food in its group. See which group is absent, and see whether the amounts make sense. Then add or swap one food. Common gaps look like this. Ugali and sukuma wiki have energy and protection, but no body-building food. Add beans, an egg, fish or milk. Rice and meat have energy and body-building food, but no protection. Add cabbage, tomatoes or a fruit. A plate of fruit only is protective, but it will not keep you working all afternoon. Add a staple and a body-building food. Sometimes every group is present but the proportion is poor. A spoon of ugali, a large pile of fried meat and no real vegetable is not a good pattern. Reduce the idea of meat as the whole meal, keep a moderate serving, and bring the staple and the vegetable up. Chips and sausages are mostly energy foods, and the sausage is only a small body-building food. Add a vegetable and do not treat the chips as the only dish of the day. You can also plan, not only repair. If lunch will be githeri, pick vegetables from the garden in the morning. If breakfast is porridge, boil milk with it or drink milk beside it, and carry a fruit. Leftover beans can turn plain rice into a better meal the next day. Improving a meal does not always mean buying meat. Legumes, milk, eggs, garden vegetables and seasonal fruit are enough. The important thing is to notice the gap and close it. PAGE 17: Lesson 7: Improving meals that are not balanced — Repair three meals ## Key words • missing group — a food group that is not present in a meal • improve a meal — add or change foods so that the meal becomes balanced ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Lunch is ugali and cabbage. What is missing, and what can you add? Working: 1. Ugali is energy-giving. Cabbage is protective. 2. There is no body-building food. 3. Add beans, fish, eggs, meat or milk. Answer: Body-building food is missing. Add one such as beans or an egg. ## Activity: Repair three meals You will need: Meal cards prepared by the teacher or written by learners, Exercise book 1. Each group receives three meals that are not balanced. 2. Identify the missing group in each meal. 3. Select a locally available food to add. 4. Explain the new proportion: which food is now the largest part. ## Practice 1. A meal has rice and fried eggs. What should you add, and why? 2. Name the groups in boiled maize and beans, and say what is still needed. 3. Why is a large plate of fried meat with almost no ugali a poor proportion? PAGE 18: Lesson 7: Improving meals that are not balanced — Answers to practice ## Answers to practice 1. A protective food such as vegetables or fruit, because energy-giving and body-building foods are already there. 2. Maize is energy-giving and beans are body-building. A fruit or vegetable is still needed. 3. Body-building food has become the largest part, and energy-giving and protective foods are too little. ## Summary • List the foods, name the groups, and find what is missing. • Add a local food from the missing group. • Check that the staple is still the largest part. LESSON 8: KEEPING A ONE-WEEK MEAL JOURNAL ========================================= ## What you will learn • Record meals for one week. • Use the record to appreciate and improve balanced eating. Curriculum outcomes: c) appreciate the importance of eating a balanced meal ## Introduction It is easy to think you eat well when you only remember the best meal of the week. A journal shows the real pattern, including the days when a food group was left out. ## Notes A meal journal is a simple daily record of what you eat. For this sub-strand, keep it for one week. The aim is to notice whether your meals are balanced, and to appreciate why that matters, not to shame anyone about food at home. Draw a table with these columns: day, meal, foods eaten, energy-giving, body-building, protective. For breakfast, lunch and supper, write the foods honestly. Tick a group only when that food was really there. A splash of milk in tea is not a full body-building serving, so do not tick it as if you ate a meal of milk. Snacks can be written in a note under the day. PAGE 19: Lesson 8: Keeping a one-week meal journal — Notes 2 At the end of each day, look at the ticks. If one group is missing from most meals, circle that day. At the end of the week, count how many meals had all three groups. Write two sentences. One sentence says what you are already doing well. The other says one change you can make, such as adding a fruit at break or putting a vegetable on the plate at supper. Share the pattern, not a complaint about your family. In class, talk about what was easy to find and what was often missing. Many learners will notice that vegetables or fruit disappear on busy days. Planning those foods is a practical response. Appreciating a balanced meal means you value it enough to choose it when you can. You might help wash vegetables, remind the person cooking that fruit is in the basket, or pick sukuma wiki from the garden. The journal is useful only if it leads to that kind of care. Keep the journal clean and private enough that you tell the truth. Your teacher may ask to see the ticks and your two sentences, not to judge your home. PAGE 20: Lesson 8: Keeping a one-week meal journal — Start a one-week meal journal ## Key words • meal journal — a written record of the foods you eat over several days • appreciate — to value something and show that it matters to you ## Worked examples ### Example 1 Monday lunch is recorded as ugali, beans and orange. Which boxes should be ticked? Working: 1. Ugali is energy-giving. 2. Beans are body-building. 3. An orange is protective. Answer: Tick all three groups. ## Activity: Start a one-week meal journal You will need: Exercise book, Pencil, Ruler 1. Draw the journal table for seven days and three meals each day. 2. Fill in today's meals and tick the food groups. 3. Write one thing you appreciate about a balanced meal. 4. Each evening this week, complete the row, and on the seventh day write what you will keep doing and one meal you will improve. ## Practice 1. What should a meal journal record? 2. Why do we keep the journal for a whole week? 3. After the week, what two things should you write? ## Answers to practice 1. The foods eaten at each meal and which of the three food groups were present. 2. A week shows the usual pattern, not just one good or poor meal. 3. What you are already doing well, and one change that will make meals more balanced. ## Summary • Record each meal and tick the three food groups. • Use the week to see which group is often missing. • Choose one real improvement and value balanced meals enough to keep them. PAGE 21: Revision quiz REVISION QUIZ ============= Answer all the questions, then mark yourself on the Answers tab. 1. What does variety in a meal mean? A. Eating a very large amount of one food B. Including foods from the different food groups C. Eating only fruits D. Skipping breakfast 2. Which part of a balanced plate should be the largest? A. Sweets B. Body-building food C. Energy-giving food D. Cooking oil alone 3. Which food is body-building? A. Ugali B. Cooking oil C. Beans D. Cabbage 4. Why are fruits and vegetables called protective foods? 5. Which meal is balanced? A. Black tea and mandazi B. Ugali only C. Rice, fish and cabbage D. A bottle of soda and crisps 6. How can githeri be made into a balanced meal? 7. A learner is often tired and the meals have very little staple food. Which group is too small? A. Energy-giving foods B. Only water C. Protective foods only D. Salt 8. Why should a meal journal cover one week? 9. Which habit supports a balanced meal? A. Filling up on sweets before lunch B. Washing hands and eating regular meals C. Skipping protective foods to save space D. Eating one food only every day 10. Ugali and spinach are on the plate. What should you add? A. More salt only B. A body-building food such as beans or fish C. Another pile of ugali and nothing else D. A fizzy drink PAGE 22: Quiz answers ANSWERS ======= 1. B. Including foods from the different food groups Variety means the meal contains different kinds of food, from all three groups. 2. C. Energy-giving food The body uses a lot of energy, so the energy-giving food is the largest part. 3. C. Beans Beans are legumes and supply proteins. Ugali and oil give energy. Cabbage is protective. 4. They supply vitamins and minerals that help the body stay well. Protective foods do not mainly give energy. They help the body resist illness and keep organs healthy. 5. C. Rice, fish and cabbage Rice gives energy, fish builds the body and cabbage protects. The other choices miss food groups. 6. Add a vegetable or a fruit. Maize is energy-giving and beans are body-building, so only the protective group is missing. 7. A. Energy-giving foods Energy-giving foods are the fuel for work and play. Too little of them leaves a person tired. 8. A week shows the usual eating pattern rather than a single meal. Looking at many meals helps you see which food group is often missing. 9. B. Washing hands and eating regular meals Clean hands and regular meals are healthy habits that let the body use a balanced meal well. 10. B. A body-building food such as beans or fish Ugali is energy-giving and spinach is protective. A body-building food is still needed.