Diet For Children between 6 to 18

School children will have a good appetite but their food should be selected nutritiously. During 6 to 12 years the rate of growth in children slows down and body changes occur gradually.

School children will have a good appetite but their food should be selected nutritiously. During 6 to 12 years the rate of growth in children slows down and body changes occur gradually. This period of life in general is known as the latent period of growth. This is applicable mainly for boys. In girls prepubertal acceleration of growth take place during later half of this period. During this stage girls usually outgrow boys. The body requirements of calories and protein are increased steadily. Requirements of the nutrients of children are increased from 7 - 12 years, as there is gradual increase in need because reserves are being laid down for the demands of the approaching adolescent period. The increased requirements of protein would meet demands of the growth. Girls require more protein between 10 - 12 than boys do, since they are approaching menarche early. During 10 - 12 years, children do require more calcium than adults to meet demand for skeletal growth. Since blood volume is increased iron requirements are also increased.

Breakfast is particularly important for a school child. This age group has a tendency to skip breakfast, which is bad. This will make them weak, tried, lethargic and develop lack of concentration. A cereal, milk, and fruit will make a good and quick breakfast. Packed lunches should be nutritiously adequate. Dinner is a good time to balance calories at the end of the day. Ideally break fast and lunch should provide major portion of calories and the balance should be from dinner and in between snacks.

During puberty nutritional needs are increased due to physical growth, hormonal changes and emotional strain. Calories, protein, calcium and iron requirements are particularly increased during this period. Iron is needed for haemoglobin synthesis necessitated by the considerable expansion of blood volume and for myoglobin needed for muscle growth.

Points to note

* Food should contain high calories, protein, minerals and trace elements.
* Since the calories requirement is more in the daytime more calories must be provided during the day.
* Preferable food items are cereals, milk and milk products, pulses, vegetables including green leafy vegetables and fruits for vegetarians and in addition egg, chicken and fish for non vegetarians.
* In packed lunches variety must be provided.
* Dishes should be quick to eat and nutritious.
* New dishes should be introduced at regular intervals.
* Involve children in food shopping and preparing meals.

Adolescents

Adolescence is the period of transition from childhood to adult hood. During this period there are accelerated physical, biochemical and emotional developments. Adolescents are physically more active and have a greater metabolic rate. The final growth spurt occurs during this period. Many changes take place in the body like physical and sexual growth due to the influence of different hormones.

At this adolescent age they start eating out and take snacks in between meals. This may be due to increase requirement or may be the way of socialising. The snacks they eat are full of fats, carbohydrates and sugar. Some of them try to use food as a way to establish their identity, perhaps by over eating or going on a crash diet. Their faulty eating habits can lead to different nutritional deficiency, under or over nourishment, dental caries or eating disorders.

Eating disorders, especially anorexia nervosa and bulimia are common problems in adolescent girls. This is due to the girls of this age group become very conscious about their bodies and it influence the way they eat. These types of problems are on a rise now days. Obesity is the another important problem seen in both sexes of this age group. They must be encouraged to have a healthy nutritional habit and to have proper physical activity.

Adolescent girls need an increased iron requirement because of the onset of menstruation. The girls need to ensure adequate intake of iron as they lose 0.5 mg/day during menstruation. They require 30 - 35 mg per day. To ensure sufficient quantity of iron, include whole grain cereals, green leafy vegetables, liver, raisins and dried dates in the diet. Bone growth demands calcium. A good calcium intake is also important during this period for strong and healthy bones and teeth and to prevent osteoporosis during later life. Diet must provide at least 2 glasses of milk / day or any other dairy product. Calcium is also present in good quantity in fish, green leafy vegetable and ragi. The need for thiamine, riboflavin and niacin increases directly with increased caloric intake. B12 is essential for DNA and RNA synthesis and needed in higher amounts when tissue synthesis is occurring rapidly. Food sources that include these vitamins are bran, peanuts, peas, beans, liver, milk, green leafy vegetables, egg white, fish and wheat germ.

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