Food Requirement Per Person Per Day and Per Year

Wait for extreme hunger and eat till our belly is like a ball; is very common in Nepal. The information about importance of right food, at right time interval and at right quantity is still not disseminated well. As a result of which, even, educated circle of nation are not following the good routine.How much food a person should take per day ? It depends upon the many factor. First factor is your age; children and old age should have less whereas young should more. Second factor is Sex; it is scientifically verified that women should have less food than men. Similarly,  third factor would be the personal physical works; those having heavy physical exercises and works should obviously have more food than having light works. These are some of the major  factors; but there are many metabolic and external factors which an medical researcher can explain much better than an agriculturist like me. However, the principle of average should never be neglected. No such medical research  is found in Nepal. So, we are purportedly borrowing findings and recommendations from Indian Council of Medical Research for own use, considering the findings might be replicable to our situation.

Food requirement per person per day(ICMR 1985)

Food group	Requirement in gm*
Cereals	400-650
Pulses	55-80
Green vegetables	100-125
Roots and tubers	75-100
Other vegetables	75-100
Fruits	30
Milk	100-200
Meat or fish	30
Egg	30
Sugar	30-55
Fats and oil	35-50

Derived ICMR Recommendations (kg/person/year)

Food group	lowest	highest	average
Cereals	146	219	183
Pulses	20	32	26
Green vegetables	37	46	41
Roots and tubers	27	37	32
Other vegetables	27	37	32
Fruits	11	11	11
Milk	37	73	55
Meat or fish	11	11	11
Egg	11	11	11
Sugar	11	20	16
Fats and oil	13	18	16
Total	350	514	432