Food Groups

• Energy-giving foods (like rice, wheat, potato) give us power to work and play.
• Body-building foods (like dal, eggs, milk) help our body grow.
• Protective foods (like fruits and vegetables) help protect us from illness.
• Eating from all three groups keeps us healthy.

Level 1 — Core idea

Verbal: Foods can be grouped by the main job they do for the body — giving energy, building the body, or protecting from disease.

Symbolic: Energy-giving → rice, wheat, potato; Body-building → dal, eggs, milk; Protective → fruits, vegetables.

Visual: Draw three boxes labelled Energy, Body-building, Protective, and sort food pictures into each box.

Level 2 — Going deeper

Many meals mix foods from all three groups, like rice (energy) with dal (body-building) and a vegetable (protective), for a well-rounded plate.

NCERT anchor

NCERT Looking Around 3 groups foods by what they do for the body to help children choose healthy meals.

A runner eats rice before a race for quick energy. Which food group is rice from?

Step 1 — Rice mainly gives the body power to work
Step 2 — Foods that give power are **energy-giving** foods
Answer: Rice is an **energy-giving** food ✓

A growing child eats eggs and milk daily. Which food group are these from?

Step 1 — Eggs and milk help the body grow and repair
Step 2 — Foods that help growth are **body-building** foods
Answer: Eggs and milk are **body-building** foods ✓

• Name one energy-giving food.
• Name one body-building food.
• Why are fruits and vegetables called protective foods?
• Stretch: Plan a meal with one food from each of the three groups.

Revision tip: Sort yesterday's meals into energy, body-building, and protective foods.

Open the Practice tab for graded questions on Food Groups.