Proper Nutritional Dieting For Children And Teenagers (Part 2) -By Edwin Alivionote

Edwin Alivionote

Children are open to dietary choices based on family economic status and the food policy of the society as captured by the food programmes of government. Children like adolescents undergo rapid physical, emotional, intellectual, and social maturation. To support this growth, children and teenagers need extra calories, calcium, and iron for bone structuring, and sufficient protein to build up the growth tissues of the body.

At age 5 years, children are growing quickly and often become even more active when they start school. They need an adequate intake of energy and a diet that provides all the nutrients needed for growth and development. Appetite and capacity for food among children is particularly important for them to have a nutrient rich diet that includes healthy diets to ensure nutrient requirements are met. The eating habits of most children (5years and above) will have been shaped largely by those of their family but, as they get older, they will begin to accumulate different experiences that may shape their food preferences and dietary patterns, either positively or negatively.

Teenage eating habits are influenced less by parents and family, and more by peers, media messages, and body image issues. Following a period of slow growth during late childhood, the teenage growth rate is as rapid as that of early childhood. By the end of adolescence, teens attain most of their adult height and weight. It seems the need and utilisation of energy for children and young adults cannot be over emphasized. The nutrients protein, carbohydrates, and fats in food serve as the body’s energy sources hence, the need to have them in their daily menu.

A well-rounded diet based on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) guidelines should deliver sufficient amounts of all the essential vitamins and minerals. Adolescents tend to most often fall short of their daily quotas of calcium, iron, zinc, and vitamin D. Issues related to body image also affect dietary choices. According to the Youth Risk Behaviour Study of 1990, few adolescents are satisfied with their appearance. 34% of the females surveyed reported feeling “too fat” and 44% of female students said they were trying to lose weight. The most popular methods for losing weight are exercise and skipping meals.

In addition, teens often use vomiting as a way to control their weight. More alarming, the survey found that many of the students who feel fat are well within a normal weight range for their height. The dietary choices of teens may also be impacted by various health conditions, most notably anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and obesity. The proper planning of dieting for school children should be a complementary effort of both the parents and the school. Two things to note by guardians of children and teenagers are:

It is recommended that children and young people should engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day.

It is important to teach children about dental hygiene to keep their teeth healthy and strong.
Children are the future of any society and, good nutritional dieting grooms them through the teenage age into young adults that will become active developmental members of the society. The parents have the role of understanding the various dietary needs of these persons and hence, map out daily and weekly nutritional plan to meet these needs for healthy growth and proper body adoption to the new body function.