Eat correct

``mother, can I please have a burger or lunch today?’’ Savita asked her mother. Her mother replied, ``you had one on Sunday. It is not good to eat burgers, chips and pizzas so often. I will make you a methi parantha instead.’’

``but why can’t we have burgers everyday? Savita pestered her mother.

Mummy said, ``have you seen your friend your friend, Ravi how fact he has become. His mother tells me he does not eat healthy food. He only enjoys colas, chips, ice creams, burgers and pizzas. These are harmful for health.’’ ``but mummy, Ram is not fact. He also eats burgers and pizzas everyday. ..’ Savita argued.

Mother explained, ``haven’t you noticed ow often he falls sick. That is because his body is weak due to lack of proper food. You should always eat a well balanced diet.

No food to eat

Ravi: `I wonder if mother will bring food today. We have not eaten for two whole days now.’’

Kavita: ``May be she will bring the roots that she got last time.’’

Ravi: ``Yuck! They were so bad. My stomach ached the whole day after eating them.’’

Kavita: ``At least that day it was not due to hunger’’.

Malnutrition

Many people in our country do not get even one proper meal in a day. They suffer from malnutrition, which causes many deficiency diseases such as rickets (weakening of bones), anemia and so on. Poverty and famine are the two major causes of malnutrition.

Poverty

Praveen is a seven years old boy. He belongs to a poor family. His father and mother are laborers in the paddy fields. For all their hard work they get paid very little. Praveen has three more siblings, one brother and two sisters. All of them are thin and weak because they often remain hungry for days.

Some children no chance! They have to eat whatever they get to survive. So next time you throw food, think of them! Never ever waste food. You are lucky enough to have it!

Nearly six million people starve in the world every day, hunger kills at least 12 million children every ear. Most of them suffer from malnutrition diseases.

Famine

Famine is a situation when people do not get food to eat. It happens due to natural causes like drought (acute water shortage) or floods or damage to crops by pests or diseases. Famine leads to malnutrition and starvation which in turn leads to death. Famines are also caused by man-made reasons such as wars or misused of crops. Sometimes, food grains stored in godowns get spoilt due to pest attacks. Food may also get spoilt due to its careless handling during transportation.

Bengal famine -1943

Shortage of food leads to a rise in the prices of food an example of this people is the Bengal famine of 1943. Bengal famine did not occur because of lack of food. Rather, it was a man –made calamity. During World War II, the British burnt the rice fields in Bengal to stop the Japanese from entering ndia from the east. They did not allow rice- carrying ships from Burma to reach our country nor did they allow the fishermen to fish in the rivers, scarcity of food grains led to an increase in the price of food beyond the reach of common people. ``Between’’ 1.5 to 3 million people died from starvation and malnutrition during the Bengal famine.

The people of Bihar from suffered hunger and malnutrition due to the kosi floods of August 2008.

Australia is facing a drought since 2002, resulting in global shortage of rice.