Practical Work: Food Preparation, Recording and Diet Surveys
What this domain tests
Practical work tests whether you can prepare food hygienically, weigh and record accurately, calculate nutrients, and conduct a small diet survey. The exam may ask for a method, a calculation, a record format or an interpretation.
Core rules
- Weigh raw ingredients before cooking and record the cooked yield; raw and cooked weights are not interchangeable.
- Use standard household measures and a food composition table; state the source and the edible portion.
- A 24-hour recall asks the respondent to list all foods and drinks consumed in the previous day, including quantity, time and method of preparation.
- A food frequency questionnaire asks how often foods are eaten over a period; it assesses habitual intake, not exact grams.
- Record observations honestly, including leftovers, sharing and seasonality.
Worked example
A 24-hour recall for a 10-year-old boy lists rice, sambar, one egg, biscuits and tea. Reasoning: convert household measures to grams, look up nutrient values, and compare with ICMR-NIN RDA for his age and sex. If energy is adequate but iron and vitamin A are low, the advice is to add GLV, fruit and a pulse preparation, not simply to increase rice. The calculation must use the edible portion and the actual number of servings.
Traps that cost marks
- Using cooked weight with a raw-food composition table.
- Reporting a single recall as the child’s usual intake without qualification.
- Forgetting to record edible portion, leftovers and method of cooking.
- Omitting the RDA comparison and giving only a food list.