IMPORTANCE OF AYURVEDIC DIET IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS OF CHILDREN
Ayurveda is a science of life that focuses on promoting and maintaining people's health. Lifestyle and diet are key elements impacting an individual's health in this technological and competitive day. Diet and dietary habits play important role in the maintenance of health. Nutrition offers the building elements for the development of new dhatus. Dhatus are energy reservoirs that come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Dhatus are continually being bro- ken down to extract energy. So, replenishing good quality Dhatus is essential. For this, balanced foods are im- portant. In Ayurveda, eating foods are energizing the Mind. It's Sattvic, Rajasic or Tamasic gunas depend on the food we consume. Let my food be my medicine. Health depends solely on the food we intake. Strength, health, & life depend on Agni. But Agni is also constantly replenished from the nutrition. So, to maintain Sama Agni eating balanced foods are essential. Toddlers & Pre-schoolers need adequate intake to achieve full growth and develop-mental potential. Undernutrition impairs children’s cognitive development as well as their ability to explore their environments. Keywords: Aahar, Agni, Ayurveda, Dhatus, Growth, Nutrition,