FOOD AND NUT SS1 WK 4 NOTE

 Date: 12th October, 2022

 Topic: MEAL MANAGEMENT. 

       Meal Planning is the action of deciding meals in advance using your schedule, preferences, foods on hand, seasonal produce, sale items, etc.  It can also be defined as taking the time to plan nutritious meals for a specified time or period.              It is necessary to plan a meal for people in different physiological conditions. This will aid to provide a balanced diet that will meet the nutritional requirements for growth, body building, energy supply and body protection from deficiency diseases. Consequently, meal planning usually leads to grocery shopping once a week, for only the items needed and having others (e.g. family) involved in creating the menu.

            General Principles of Meal Planning 

        In planning a meal, the most important facts that must be put into consideration is the knowledge of food value. Other values include 

1. Type of food in season 

2. Health conditions of the family members.

3. Composition and nutritional needs of family members. 

4. Adequacy and availablity of foods.

5. Cooking facilities available 

6. Personal likes and dislikes 

7. Quality of food 

8. Cooking skills of the household cook 

9. Occupation of the members of the family 

10. Family income. 

         Reasons For Planning a Meal 

1. To improve nutrition: by planning in advanced ,you can aim to have nutritionally well balanced diet or meals throughout the week or month by making sure all meals  have the nutritional needs. 

2. Making healthy choices : you have to plan your meals  so that you can make or eat healthy meals rather than waiting till you are hungry then you find yourself eating junk foods and probably exceeding your daily calorie and sodium requirement. 

3. Save money: planning meals prevents you from throwing out ingredients forgotten in the fridge. Creating meals specifically allows you to use up whatever is left in the cupboard.

4. It saves time 

5. It decreases stress and it allows you to eat high quality food. 

              Factors that Influence Meal Planning 

1. Size of the family: The size of the family will determine the quality of meal to plan for. The amount of food served in the family is largely determined by the number of its members. More members means more food for the family. 

2. Family composition: This refers to the age, sex, activity, occupation and different physical conditions of the family members e.g age; more protein and minerals are required for growing children while adults require food according to their activities. Occupation; more calories is required for a very heavy worker whereas more proteins are required for people doing mental work. 

3. Season of the year: Meals should be in accordance with the season. With the change of season, availability of food stuffs and our taste also change 

4. Food acceptance: Acceptance or rejection of food by a person is affected by his likes and dislikes, social tradition and customs, religious customs too. All these factors are to be kept in mind while planning a meal. Food habits also affects meals to a great extent e.g some people take heavy breakfast while other prefer heavy dinner .

5. Lifestyle : Every family has a different lifestyle therefore number of meals taken in a day also varies. In some families, 2-3 meals is taken in a day whereas in some it is up to 5times. Mealtime also varies in every family because the time and number of meals is affected by the persons activity, income and physical state. For example number of meals taken is more in high income group compared to a low income group.