Each child is an unique individual whose heredity and environment shape the course of his or her life. Woven into the daily life are aspects of food and nutrition. What childhood memories of food do you have? Are these memories healthy or unhealthy?

Foods and their nutrients are essential to life. In the beginning years of life an infant’s nutritional health depends on the family unit. Parents must have knowledge of the changing food needs of the child and must also have sufficient resources to provide food, shelter, and clothing for the family. Equally important, parents create the cultural and psychological environment that influences the development of food habits, setting the patterns for later years.

During the preschool years some children depend solely on family caregivers for their nutritional needs. For other preschooler children the responsibility for meeting nutritional needs is shared by the family and others, such as caregivers in child-care centers and babysitters. The child entering school becomes influenced by teachers and peers, and learns to broaden his or her experiences with food. For many people, the adolescent years often are turbulent as t

Children sometimes go on food jags. They will eat only certain foods, for instance, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Usually these diversions of appetite do not last too long if the parents make no particular point of them. If milk is refused as a beverage, it can be served as cooked cereals or puddings insuring that the child gets its correct and sufficient nutrients. Often it will be accepted again if it is poured into a decorated mug, or occasionally is flavored, or is colored with bright fruit purees or juices. Plain yogurt and mild cheeses are good substitutes.

Fat Requirements- infants require calorically dense foods to meet the high energy needs of growth. Human milk contains 50-55% of energy as fat, and most formulas contain 45-50% of energy as fat. Infants thrive and grow normally when fed diets with 30-60% of calories as fat; less energy-dense diets may result in inadequate energy intake.

The newborn begins to convert substrates-protein to glucose, glucose to fat, and must adapt to a discontinuous supply of nutrients. Glycogen stored during feedings must be converted to glucose to support energy needs between feedings. Adding further to the vulnerability of the newborn period, many of the digestive and absorptive functions of the newborn are incompletely developed (Schmitz, 1991).

“Breast feeding is best” is a teaching slogan used by health care providers. Some cultures expect new mothers to breast-feed and actively support their efforts, however, others do not. Each mother’s decision whether to breast-feed is a personal one, determined by a number of individual, family, and sociocultural factors. Breast feeding is a form of feeding where the child, through the mothers breast receives sufficient energy and nutrients which helps with growth and development of the infant. There are some advantages of breast feeding. Human milk is free of contamination by disease producing organisms, is instantly available at the right temperature for the infant, is nutritionally correct for healthy infants, and is usually less costly to produce even though the mother requires additional foods to support lactation. Breast-feeding provides benefits beyond optimal nutrition. Human milk contains a complex variety of anti-infective substances and cells that reduce infections of the gastrointestinal tract and infant diarrheal disease. Also, breast feeding appears to be protective against food allergies. Formula feeding is another form of feeding in which it provides sufficient nutrition for optimal growth and development. Breast milk is the preferred food during early infancy, although current commercially prepared infant formula are adequate alternatives for mother who choose not to breast feed. Formulas are available in several forms and concentrations: single strength, ready to feed, in quart cans, or 4 oz or 8 oz disposable ready to feed bottles; concentrated liquid, which is measured into sterilized bottles and diluted with boiled or clean tap water; and powdered formula, to be diluted with water or added to other formulations as a nutrient/energy booster.

As the newborn adjusts to life outside to uterus, changes in physiology produce losses of body water and small amounts of body tissues. Also, in the first few days after birth, the energy supplied by breast milk does not yet meet the needs of the newborn. As a result, the infant loses about 6% of birthweight in the first few days after birth. By the end of the first week the infant begins to gain weight rapidly and, by about the tenth day, has regained birthweight. By the age 4 months, most infants have doubled their birthweights, and by the end of the first year, birthweight has tripled. Although the rate of weight gain during infancy is high, it decelerates from a peak rate obtained in the utero. From birth to age 4 months the infant gains 20-25 each day, and from 4 months to 1 year, weight gain slows to 15g per day.

Vitamin and Mi

Some topics in this essay:
Infants Infants, School Children, B12 Thiamin, Children Adolescents, Preadolescents Adolescents, Acid Needs-, Protein Needs-, Energy Needs-, Water Requirements-, Fat Requirements-, human milk, body weight, growth development, breast milk, solid foods, unit body weight, food habits, amino acids, vitamins minerals, amino acid, weight gain, life outside uterus, feeding form feeding, human milk contains,