A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT FOOD GROUPS*
25-39
The typical food groups
To teach about nutritional needs, instructors often organize common foods into
several groups. These food groups range in number from 3 or 4 to as many as 12,
depending on whom you choose to listen to and where they come from.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) suggests 3 groups:
• Body-building foods (rich in proteins)
• Protective foods (rich in vitamins and minerals)
• Energy foods (starches and sugars, or carbohydrates; and fats)
In Where There Is No Doctor we use similar groups, but have divided energy foods
into two groups: carbohydrates and fats.
An imaginative poster for teaching typical food groups. (By Adeline Andre, from cover of
Teaching Nutrition in Developing Countries.)
*Many of the ideas here are adapted from “Food Classification System for Developing Countries,” by Abrahamsson
and Velarde, in Teaching Nutrition in Developing Countries, Freedom From Hunger, Davis, CA, U.S.A.