Deepthi R et al.

/ Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine 2023;10(1):4–10 5

Table 1: Energy and protein content of commonly used Indian food items 2,3
S. No. Food Items Quantity in number Energy (Kcal) Protein (gms)
Breakfast Items
1 Phulka 1 80 3.2
2 Bread 2 slices 170 7
3 Dosa 1 125 2.8
4 Paratha 1 150 2.8
5 Idli 2 No’s 120 4.6
6 Vada 1 140 4.2
7 Chutney (coconut) 2 Tbsp 120 2.5
8 Upma 1 cup 270 5
1
9 Kesari bath 2 cup 320 7.1
10 Poori 1 100 2
11 Roti/chapati 1 110 2.9
12 Pongal/khichidi 1 cup 200 8.1
13 Poha 1 cup 200 5.3
14 Cereal flakes with 1 cup 220 5.1
milk
15 Porridge 1 cup 220 3.5
16 Boiled egg 1 90 5.3
17 Omelette 1 160 3.7
Lunch and Dinner Items
1 Rice 1 cup 170 4.3
2 Veg fried rice 1 cup 200 3.8
3 Ragi Ball (Medium 1 140 2.7
size)
4 Sambar 1 cup 115 3.6
1
5 Plain Dal 2 cup 100 4.4
6 Vegetable gravy 1 cup 170 3
7 Vegetable dry 1 cup 150 3
1
8 Curd 2 cup 60 3.5
9 Buttermilk 1 cup 30 1.7
1
10 Mutton curry 2 cup 170 10.4
1
11 Chicken curry 2 cup 160 9.3
12 Fish fried 2 big pieces 220 14
1
13 Prawn curry 2 cup 145 7.4
Dairy Products
1 Cow’s Milk + 2Tbsp 1 cup 180 8.7
sugar
2 Buffalo Milk + 1 cup 320 9.2
2Tbsp sugar
3 Coffee + 2Tbsp sugar 1 cup 110 3.6
4 Tea + 2Tbsp sugar 1 cup 75 2
5 Lassi + 2Tbsp sugar 1 glass (200 ml) 110 6.8
Beverages
1 Squash 1 glass (200 ml) 75 1
2 Fresh lime juice 1 glass (200 ml) 60 0.7
3 Cold drinks I bottle (200 ml) 150 0
Fruits
1 Apple 1 Medium 65 0.3
2 Orange/mosambi 1 Medium 40 0.7
3 Banana 1 Medium 90 1.3
Continued on next page
6 Deepthi R et al. / Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine 2023;10(1):4–10

Table 1 continued
4 Grapes 30 No’s 70 0.6
5 Guava 1 Medium 50 2.5
6 Mango 1 Medium 180 2
7 Papaya 1 large piece 80 1.5
8 Pineapple 1 large piece 50 0.6
9 Sapota 1 Medium 80 0.9
10 Custard apple 1 Medium 130 2.3
11 Watermelon/ musk 1 big slice 15 0.5
melon
Snacks
1 Bhajji/pakora 1 no 35 1
2 Chat 1 no 220 5
3 Masala Vada 1 no 75 2.5
4 Kachori 1 190 2.7
5 Samosa 1 200 2.8
6 Biscuit 2 pieces 90 1.4
3 Veg Sandwich 2 pieces 200 9.2
4 Veg Burger 1 245 6.3
5 Non veg Burger 1 250 8.4
6 Pizza 1 piece 205 9
Raw foods
1 Sugar 2 tsp 35 0
2 Oil 1 tsp 45 0
3 Ghee 1 tsp 45 0
Alcoholic beverages
1 Beer 1 glass (300 ml) 90 0
2 Whisky/Rum 1 peg (60 ml) 170 0
Sweets and Desserts
1 Plain cake 1 slice 172 3.1
2 Chocolate cake 1 slice 195 2.5
3 Fruit cake 1 slice 270 5
4 Besan barfi 1 piece 200 5.5
5 Chikki 1 piece 145 3
6 Rice puttu 1/2 cup 280 3.5
7 Kesar halwa 1/2 cup 320 7.1
8 Jelly/jam 1 Tbsp 20 0
9 Custard (caramel) 1/2 cup 160 3
10 Srikhand 1/2 cup 380 8
11 Milk chocolate 25 gms 140 0
12 Ice cream 1/2 cup 200 3.5
Nuts
1 Almonds 10 No’s 85 2.5
2 Cashew 10 No’s 95 3
3 Peanuts 50 No’s 90 3
8 Deepthi R et al. / Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine 2023;10(1):4–10

Table 2: Classification based on the work and activity 6

Type Heavy work/ activity Moderate work/ activity Sedentary work/ activity
MET* spent <3.0 3.0-6.0 >6.0
What does it mean These people engage regularly in These people have occupations These people have occupations
strenuous work or in strenuous that are not strenuous in terms of that do not demand much
leisure activities for several hours energy demands but involve physical effort, are not required
more energy expenditure than to walk long distances, generally
that described for sedentary use motor vehicles for
lifestyles. Alternatively, they can transportation, do not exercise or
be people with sedentary participate in sports regularly,
occupations who regularly spend and spend most of their leisure
a certain amount of time in time sitting or standing, with
moderate to vigorous physical little body displacement
activities, during either the
obligatory or the discretionary
part of their daily routine.
Examples Heavy lifting Digging Heavy Carrying light loads Sweeping Walking slowly Sitting using
construction work Chopping wood Raking in the garden or yard computer Standing light work
Shoveling Hiking Jogging at 6 Kmph Walking very briskly (4 kmph) (cooking, washing dishes)
Carrying heavy loads Bicycling fast Cleaning heavy (washing Fishing sitting Playing most
(14-16 kmph) Basketball game windows, vacuuming, mopping) instruments
Soccer game Tennis singles Bicycling light effort (10-12
Swimming (freestyle laps) Aerobics mph) Bad Minton recreational
Weight lifting (heavy weights) Tennis doubles walking briskly
(about 5-6 KM in an hour),
Dancing Walking short distances
Weight training (a general light
workout), Yogasanas, and
Pranayama Playing with
children
*MET -Metabolic Equivalents- One metabolic equivalent (MET) is defined as the amount of oxygen consumed while sitting at rest and is equal to 3.5 ml
O2 per kg body weight x min

Table 3: Recommended daily allowances requirement as per ICMR 2020 guidelines 7

Age group* Category Energy Consumption Protein requirement
requirement (kcal/ unit (CU) (g/ day)
day)
Sedentary work 2110 1.0
Adult men (19-39
Moderate work 2710 1.3 42.9
years)
Heavy work 3470 1.6
Sedentary work 1660 0.8
Moderate work 2130 1.0 36.3
Heavy work 2720 1.3
Adult women
Pregnant II + 7.6
(19-39 years) +350 -
(Trimester) III + 17.6
Lactating 0-6 +600 + 13.6
-
(Months) 7-12 +520 + 10.6
Infants 6 - 12 months 670 0.3 8.8
1 - 3 years 1010 0.5 9.2
Children 4 - 6 years 1360 0.6 12.8
7 - 9 years 1700 0.8 19.0
Boys 10 – 12 y 2220 1.1 26.2
Girls 10 – 12 y 2060 1.0 26.6
Boys 13 – 15 y 2860 1.4 36.4
Girls 13 – 15 y 2400 1.1 34.4
Boys 16 – 18 y 3320 1.6 45.1
Girls 16 – 18 y 2500 1.2 37.3
* After the age of 40 years, requirements should be reduced by 5 percent per each decade until the age of 60 years, and 10 percent for each decade
thereafter. 8
 Deepthi R et al. / Indian Journal of Forensic and Community Medicine 2023;10(1):4–10 9

Table 5: Additional allowance during pregnancy and lactation 2 3. Consumption of milk and milk products are
Food Item During During lactation inadequate
Pregnancy (grams) 4. Proportion of vegetable, green leafy vegetables, roots,
(grams) and tuber consumption is grossly inadequate
Cereals 35 60 5. Fruit, nuts, and seeds need to be included in the daily
Pulses 15 30
diet
Milk 100 100
Nuts & Seeds 10 10
Fats & Oils$ 5 10 Table 7:
Family Member Consumption Units
Father (Sedentary work) 1.0
4. Discussion Mother (Moderate work) 1.0
4-year child 0.6
4.1. Annexure 1 1-year child 0.5
The 24-hr semiquantitative dietary recall of a 32-year-old Total Consumption Units 3.1
Mr. Raju, working as a construction labourer, is as follows. 1 Consumptionunit = 2110 Kcal
Coffee 1 cup, 2 idlis, 2 Tbsp of chutney for breakfast, 1 Totalconsumption units of this family = 3.1
Total Calories required by this family = 2110 x 3.1= 6541 Kcal/day
medium-sized ragi ball, 1 cup rice, 1 and a half cup sambar,
half cup of vegetable dry, half cup curd, 1 bajji for lunch, 4
biscuits and a cup of tea for the evening and 1 cup of rice, 1
cup of sambar for the night. Assess the diet of this person. 4.2. Annexure 2
Tabulate the calorie and protein content of individual Prescribe a balanced diet for a family consisting of a father,
food items as per Table 1. a 29-year-old software engineer, a mother aged 25 years
(housewife), and children aged 4 and 1 year.
Table 6:
Breakfast Quantity Cal Protein Table 8:
Coffee 1 cup 110 3.6
Food groups Foods to be For the family
Idli 2 Nos 120 4.6 consumed (3.1 CU)
Chutney 2 tbsp 120 2.5 (g/ day) – for 1
Lunch CU
Ragi Ball 1 Medium 140 2.7 Cereals including 275 852.5
Sambar 1 1/2 cup 173 2.4 millets
Vegetable Dry 1/2 cup Pulses/ Flesh foods 80 248
Rice 1 cup 170 4.3 Milk/ curd (ml) 300 930
Curd 1/2 cup 60 3.5 Green Leafy 100 310
Bajji 1 No 35 1 Vegetable
Evening Snacks Other Vegetables 200 620
Tea 1 cup 75 2 Roots and Tubers 100 310
Biscuit 4 Nos 180 2.8 (excluding potato)
Dinner Fruits# 1150 3565
Rice 1 cup 170 4.3 Nuts & Seeds 30 93
Sambar 1 cup 115 1.6 Fats & Oils$ 25 77.5
Total 1468 35.3 Spices 10 31

Since Mr. Raju is a construction worker aged between

19-39, we consider values for adult male heavy workers. 5. Source of Funding
He must consume 3470 Kcal of energy and 42.9 grams of
protein every day. However, on 24-hour semi-quantitative None.
dietary recall, he is consuming 1468 Kcal and 35.3 grams
per day. Mr. Raju’s diet is deficient by 56% in energy 6. Conflict of Interest
requirement and 18% in protein requirement. None.
When the diet is assessed qualitatively
References
1. The proportion of cereals are more it should be limited
to 25-30% of the diet 1. Padmadas SS, Dias JG, Willekens FJ. Disentangling women’s
responses on complex dietary intake patterns from an Indian cross-
2. The proportion of pulses is less addition of a pulse side sectional survey: a latent class analysis. Public Health Nutr.
dish/egg/ flesh can be added 2006;9:204–211.