Read the following passage and answer the four questions that follow:-
The INTERNET is flooded with wisdom on nutrition, be it weight-loss diets, intermittent fasting, veganism, giving up carbohydrates or taking supplements. The truth is, it is difficult to find a balanced meal that works for you from the information swirling around you. That's why the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), under the aegis of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has released a comprehensive guideline on how Indians should be eating clean with easily accessible resources and, most importantly, what suits their body type.
Complete with an ideal plate, diet charts, recipes and advisories on how you should be cooking and in what cookware, this is an essential handbook that all of us would find convenient to incorporate into our daily lives. Given India's growing burden of non- communicable diseases, these guidelines are significant as they lay down the template of foundational nutrition in children, beginning with pregnant women. The report says that proper nutrition for a mother and child is linked not only to proper growth and development but also to the risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart attack later in life.
Over 56 percent of all non-communicable diseases can be attributed to an unhealthy diet. As the reports show, a healthy diet can prevent 80 percent of type 2 diabetes and significantly reduce the burden of heart disease, high blood pressure and prevent premature deaths. It has even warned against taking supplements for building body mass and recommended restricting salt intake, minimizing sugar and ultra-processed foods and reading information on food labels correctly.
The guidelines on how Indians should eat issued by NIN are important as:-
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → They lay down the structure of the basic nutrition needs of an average Indian.
The passage says the guidelines "are significant as they lay down the template of foundational nutrition", starting with pregnant women and children. A template is a pattern or structure to follow, and foundational means basic, so the option restates the passage's own reason.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: They focus on how to prevent non-communicable diseases among Indians. — Incorrect. Wrong focus: the growing burden of non-communicable diseases is the background ("Given India's growing burden ..."); the reason the passage gives for the guidelines being significant is the template of basic nutrition.
Option 3: They provide guidance on how to live our lives. — Incorrect. Too broad: the guidelines are about eating and cooking, not about every part of life.
Option 4: They direct parents on how to bring up their children. — Incorrect. Wrong focus: the passage links the nutrition of mother and child to health, but the guidelines are not a guide to parenting.