Q.1-10. Read the following passage carefully and answer the
questions given below it. Certain words
have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some
questions.
Malnutrition, which is often associated with the poor and
rural population, is a malaise that
has not spared even the well-to-do urban elites living in towns and cities. It
is relevant to note that UNICEF defines malnutrition as 'a broad term commonly
used as an alternative to under-nutrition but technically it also refers to
over-nutrition' and the medical dictionary defines it as 'the condition that
develops when the body doesn't get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and
other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and other organs.' Going
by these definitions, malnutrition is a major cause of concern in urban areas
too. Given the lifestyle changes in both rural and urban populace, poor
nutrition has become a common problem with insufficient, excessive or
imbalanced consumption of nutrients, among both the poor and rich. In fact as
per the National Family Health Survey, Andhra Pradesh is one of the top five
states with highest obesity rates while studies from National Institute of
Nutrition (NIN) have shown that urban kids from higher socio-economic strata
suffer from obesity due to inadequate nutrition in their diet. Most of the major ailments that the urban
populace suffers from are in some way connected to dietary habits and
imbalanced intake of nutrition. Poor, imbalanced diet is to be blamed in at
least 50 % of the cases for ailments among the urban populace including cardiac
problems, stroke, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, etc. Here people consume a
lot of rice, which is taken even at night besides oily and deep fried and junk
food, high salt containing food such as pickle along with rice while fruits and
salads are often given a miss. This leads to an imbalanced diet with excess
intake of carbohydrate and fat while important nutrients such as fibre,
proteins, vitamins and minerals are missing. Going through the dietary, lifestyle
and medical history of clients, we have found that a lot them are suffering
from obesity, underweight, anaemia, hair loss problems and osteoporosis. The
growth among children is also imbalanced. Also, as many people work at night,
they are not able to follow proper timings for food. They take a quick bite of
junk food at their workplace due to which they don't get adequate nutrition and
especially lack vitamins and minerals. They ultimately put on weight, suffer
from acidity and gastric problems. For a healthy, balanced nutritious diet, one
should maintain proper timings of food intake, abstain from high protein,
carbohydrate and fatty foods during late night and should give preference to
green and dark leafy vegetables and fibre contenting foods, fruits and salads
besides drinking adequate water. They should opt for daily exercises such as jogging, cycling or swimming. In
fact, the problem of poor nutrition is prevalent in urban areas across all
sections be it the middle class or the urban slum dwellers. The urban middle
class always tries to compromise on
nutritious diet in order to save money to purchase luxury items. After
interacting with mothers of some mal-nutritioned children in the city, we found
that most of them have been saving to buy expensive household items by curtailing expenses on food and feeding
children rice, pickle or curd rice and buttermilk daily. But such diet
ultimately leads to health problems even if the children may be eating adequate
quantity of rice. They would be suffering from lethargy, poor IQ and mental
alertness.
Q.1. How is malnutrition a major cause of concern in urban
areas too?
01. People are fast migrating from rural to urban
areas that is the reason the problem of malnutrition has shifted to urban
areas.
02. In urban areas expenses exceed the income of
people enabling them to spend enough on healthy food items
03. Availability of leafy vegetables and fruits
remain difficult in urban areas, therefore, malnutrition prevails.
04. Even in urban areas all the people do not get
access to vitamins, minerals and other nutrients to maintain health.
05. Not mentioned in the
passage
Q.2. How is malnutrition different from starvation?
01. Starvation is a condition of no food
availability whereas in malnutrition the food
remains available but lacks required nutrient.
02. Starvation is characterized by rich and
balanced food whereas malnutrition means food which is tasty but is not
accessible.
03. Starvation means food without nutrients
whereas malnutrition means no
availability of food at all.
04. Malnutrition means food which is hardly
accessible but starvation means availability of
nutritious food.
05. They are just different names but have the
same meaning.
Q.3. Which of the following is FALSE in the context of the
passage?
01. People who remain awake till late night and
consume junk food often complain of weight gain and acidity.
02. To maintain health, one should consume food at
the proper timings.
03. For health, drinking adequate water is not as
important as is having balanced diet.
04. Imbalanced dies leads to low growth, in
children.
05. In India, malnutrition is prevalent both in
rural and urban areas.
Q.4. Which of the following disease is not caused by
imbalanced diet?
01. Jaundice
02. Anaemia
03. Osteoporosis
04. Underweight
05. Diabetes
Q.5. Which of the following has been stated about the urban
middle class spending habits?
01. They spend their long
term savings to afford luxury items.
02. They prefer spending on balanced diet
compromising regular investments.
03. They prefer spending
on luxury items compromising balanced diet.
04. They do not spend much on either food or
assets but keep their money for investments.
05. Not mentioned in the passage.
Q.6. Inadequate nutrition in urban children belonging to
higher socio-economic strata suffer from-
01. Stoke
02. Weak bones
03. Diabetes
04. Hypertension
05. Obesity
Q.7. Choose the word most SIMILAR in meaning to the word
printed in bold, as used in the passage.
Malaise
01. Disinterest
02. Upset
03. Incompetence
04. Frailty
05. Embarrassment
Q.8. Choose the word most similar in meaning to the word
printed in bold, as used in the passage.
Opt for
01. Prefer
02. Designate
03. Abstain
04. Determine
05. Do
Q.9. Choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in
meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Compromise
01. Compensate
02. Enjoy
03. Disconcert
04. Accord
05. Divert
Q.10. Choose the word which is most nearly the OPPOSITE in
meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Curtailing
01. Increasing
02. Distributing
03. Lessening
04. Measuring
05. Pondering
ANSWERS
1. 4
2. 1
3. 3
4. 1
5. 3
6. 5
7. 4
8. 5
9. 2
10. 1
