Home Science: Class 11 (Book 1) — Chapter 7: Concerns and Needs in Diverse Contexts

Health is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as "a state of complete mental, physical and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease". Disease is an impairment of body health, interrupting normal functions.

• Social Health: Refers to the health of individuals and society, characterized by equal opportunity and access to essential goods/services. Determinants include employment status, workplace safety, access to health services, cultural beliefs, and socio-economic conditions.
• Mental Health: Emotional and psychological well-being. Indicators of positive mental health include feeling capable, handling daily stress, satisfying relationships, independent living, and coping with emotional stress.
• Physical Health: Encompasses physical fitness, body functioning, resistance to infection, and lack of unusual fatigue.

Health care services are delivered at three distinct levels:

1. Primary Health Care: First level of contact between individuals and the health care system.
2. Secondary Health Care: Specialized care provided at district or regional hospitals upon referral from primary care.
3. Tertiary Health Care: Highly specialized intensive care, advanced diagnostic support, and complex medical care.

Indicators used to assess multidimensional health include mortality, morbidity (illness/disease), disability rates, nutritional status, health care delivery, utilization, environment, and health policy.

Nutrition and health are intimately interlinked. Nutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life, growth, and development.

• Macronutrients: Required in relatively larger amounts. Includes fat, protein, carbohydrate, and fibre.
• Micronutrients: Required in small quantities. Includes minerals (iron, zinc, selenium) and vitamins (fat-soluble and water-soluble).
• Malnutrition: Deviation from the normal state of nutrition. Can take two forms: Undernutrition (inadequate intake) and Overnutrition (excess intake leading to toxicity or obesity).
• Double Burden of Malnutrition: Coexistence of nutritional deficiencies (undernutrition) and diet-related chronic non-communicable diseases (overnutrition) within the same population.

Major nutritional problems in India include low birth weight (less than $2500\text{ g}$), underweight and stunting in children, iron deficiency anaemia, vitamin A deficiency, and iodine deficiency disorders (goitre, cretinism, mental retardation).

The relationship between Nutrition and Infection is cyclic and mutually reinforcing: poor nutritional status decreases immunity, increasing infection risk; infections cause nutrient loss (via vomiting/diarrhoea) and increase metabolic demands while reducing appetite.

Prevention and control of disease requires addressing both intrinsic and extrinsic factors:

Food Hygiene: Food-borne illnesses occur when pathogenic micro-organisms multiply in food. Micro-organisms grow rapidly in the danger zone of $4^\circ\text{C}$ to $60^\circ\text{C}$. Key prevention practices include proper storage, adequate cooking, avoiding cross-contamination, and maintaining personal hygiene of food handlers.

Time is a limited, irreversible resource. Effective time management focuses on results, not just being busy, using a structured Time Plan (an advance schedule of activities).

• Peak Load Period: The period of maximum work load during a specified time (e.g., early morning or dinner preparation).
• Work Curve: A device to trace work against time, showing warming up (a to b), plateau of maximum ability (c), and fatigue-induced decline (d).
• Rest Periods: Unproductive interruptions of working time designed to restore energy.
• Work Simplification: Conscious seeking of the simplest, easiest, and quickest method of doing work.

Four Levels of Change in Work Simplification:

1. Change in hand and body motions: Eliminating/combining processes (e.g., air-drying dishes), improving sequence/rhythm, developing skills, and maintaining correct posture (good standing/sitting posture).
2. Change in work, storage space, and equipment: Rearranging kitchen equipment, planning work surface heights, and using labor-saving devices (pressure cookers, washing machines).
3. Change in the end product: Using different raw materials (readymade ground spices) or making different products from the same raw materials.

Space management involves planning, organizing, implementing, and evaluating space utilization to achieve functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Principles of Space Planning:

• Aspect: Arrangement of doors and windows in external walls to allow natural light, breeze, and scenery.
• Prospect: The external impression or impact a house makes on an outside observer.
• Privacy: Divided into Internal Privacy (privacy between rooms using grouping, lobbies, screens) and External Privacy (privacy from neighbors/streets using fences, trees, entrance planning).
• Grouping: Relative positioning of rooms (e.g., dining area close to kitchen, kitchen away from toilet).
• Roominess: Maximizing the spacious effect of a room using built-in cupboards, furniture arrangement, and light color schemes.
• Furniture Requirements: Planning rooms with due thought to required furniture to ensure free circulation spaces.
• Sanitation: Providing ample light (natural/artificial), ventilation (supply of outside air), and cleanliness/sanitary conveniences (bathrooms, water closets).
• Circulation: Independent entry and movement from room to room through common spaces.
• Practical Considerations: Structural strength, stability, convenience, comfort, and provision for future expansion.
• Elegance: Aesthetic appeal produced by the general layout and plan.

India has a rich textile heritage dating back over 5000 years, with evidence of spinning, weaving, dyeing, and embroidery found at Mohenjo-Daro. Traditionally, Indian fabric production is associated with three main natural fibres:

• Cotton: India is the home of cotton. Famous historical cottons include Dacca's Mulmul Khas (royal muslin) with poetic names like baft-hava (woven air), abe-rawan (flowing water), and shabnam (evening dew). Jamdani is a figured muslin traditionally woven in Bengal.
• Silk: Silk weaving centres developed around capitals and holy cities. Key styles include:
  • Varanasi Brocade (Kinkhwab): Splendid gold/silver metallic thread (zari) brocades.
  • Baluchar Butedar (West Bengal): Silk brocaded sarees featuring untwisted silk thread and unique pallavs depicting historical/epic scenes.
  • Ashavali (Gujarat): Sarees with rich gold/silver metallic backgrounds and colored thread patterns.
  • Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu): Famous South Indian brocade sarees with bird/animal motifs and dark, vibrant colors.
  • Paithan (Maharashtra): Silk sarees featuring gold inlay borders and motifs using the ancient Tapestry Weave technique.
• Wool: Associated with colder regions. Famous products include Kashmiri Pashmina and Shahtus shawls, Jamawar shawls introduced by Akbar, and Himachal Pradesh's Kullu Shawls, pattu, and dohru.

India has ancient expertise in natural dyeing and colorfastness. The oldest form of color patterning is Resist Dyeing, where specific areas are prevented from absorbing dye using thread, clay, or wax.

• Fabric Tie and Dye: Pattern created by tie-dyeing the woven fabric. Includes Bandhani (innumerable dots), Chunari, and Laheria (diagonal stripes). Primarily practiced in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Yarn Tie and Dye (Ikat): Complicated process where warp and/or weft yarns are tie-dyed before weaving. Includes single Ikat and double Ikat. Famous styles include:
  • Patola (Gujarat): Highly colorful double Ikat silk sarees made in Patan.
  • Bandha (Orissa): Single or combined Ikat with soft, curvilinear designs.
  • Telia Rumals (Andhra Pradesh): Cotton Ikat square fabrics traditionally produced in Pochampalli and Chirala.

Embroidery is the art of surface ornamentation of fabric using needle and thread (silk, cotton, gold, or silver). Key regional styles include:

• Phulkari (Punjab): Literally "flower work". Done on coarse cotton (khaddar) with untwisted silk floss (pat). Heavily embroidered versions are called Baghs.
• Kasuti (Karnataka): Subtle embroidery where threads follow the weave pattern of silk fabric, inspired by temple architecture.
• Kantha (Bengal): Quilting embroidery using small running stitches across layers of old cotton sarees/dhotis.
• Kashida (Kashmir): Done on woollen fabrics. Includes Suzni (flat stitches showing uniformity on both sides) and Zalakdozi (chain stitch done with an 'ari' hook).
• Chikankari (Uttar Pradesh): White-on-white embroidery from Lucknow. Features shadow work, net-like surfaces, and raised knotting stitches.
• Gujarat Nomadic Embroidery: Bright, loud colors used by tribes (Mahajan, Rabari, Mochibharat) to decorate doorways (torans), walls (chaklas), and garments. Often incorporates Appliqué Work (patchwork) and Bead Work.
• Chamba Rumals (Himachal Pradesh): Double-sided running stitch embroidery depicting mythological scenes similar to Pahadi paintings.

Nutritive values per $100\text{ g}$ edible portion of selected Indian foods: