Energy management in home-making
Home-making needs physical, mental and emotional effort. Energy cost rises with bending, heavy loads and hurried work, so tasks are planned to save energy.
Efforts required in home-making
Most household tasks combine all three. Cooking for guests is physical work, needs planning, and brings tension about the result.
Energy required for household activities
| Level | Typical household activities | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Sitting tasks: cutting vegetables, cleaning rice or dal, sewing, folding clothes, writing accounts | Body is supported; small muscles; little movement |
| Moderate | Standing tasks: cooking at the stove, washing vessels at a sink, ironing, dusting, sweeping with a long-handled broom | Standing and arm work with some walking |
| Heavy | Washing clothes by hand, scrubbing floors, grinding on a stone, carrying water or a gas cylinder, sweeping bent over with a short broom | Large muscles, bending, lifting and carrying loads |
What raises the energy cost of a task
- Body position: standing costs more than sitting, and bending or squatting costs more than standing upright.
- Load: lifting and carrying heavy weights, like a full bucket or a gas cylinder.
- Speed: hurrying raises energy use and causes mistakes.
- Work height: a counter that is too low makes you stoop; one that is too high strains the shoulders.
- Distance: extra walking between badly placed storage, stove and sink.
- Equipment and skill: blunt knives, heavy vessels and unskilled methods waste energy.
- Body weight and health: a heavier, unwell or pregnant worker spends more energy on the same task.
How energy cost is measured
The energy used in work is expressed in kilocalories (kcal) per minute or per hour. In the laboratory it is found by indirect calorimetry: measuring the oxygen consumed while the task is done, since more oxygen used means more energy spent. In the field, heart rate is a simple index: the faster the pulse during a task, the heavier the work. Such studies show that the same task costs less energy when done sitting, at the right height, with less bending and with good tools.
Energy spent on housework counts towards a homemaker's energy requirement. ICMR groups physical activity as sedentary, moderate or heavy when setting RDAs, so a woman who washes clothes by hand and carries water needs more calories than one with a washing machine. Diet kitchen staff on their feet all day also need proper meals and breaks.
2 marks: “Name the efforts required in home-making.” Physical (muscular), mental (thinking and planning) and emotional (feelings, worry and care) effort.
5 marks: “Classify household activities by the energy they require.” Give light, moderate and heavy groups with examples, and explain the factors that raise energy cost.
10 marks: “Discuss energy management in home-making activities.” Explain the three efforts, the energy cost of tasks with examples, how it is measured, the factors affecting it and ways to save energy.
Sit < stand < stoop: energy cost climbs as you move from sitting supported, to standing, to bending over the work.