- Physical development improves.
- Growth is rather slower and fluctuating hence eating habits are irregular.
- Try to become more and more independent in deciding the intake of certain food or number of meals.
- Often eats 3-5 times a day.
- Parent must set an example for healthy eating habits and supervise their children diet in both quality and quantity.
- Do not force the child to eat specific food but offer varieties.
- Supplementary foods or snacks prepared out of wholesome cereals, pulses, greens etc., definitely contribute to the overall calorific density and must be given in between the major meals.
- Vitamins and minerals may be necessary after an episode of illness during the period of poor dietary intake or even every day if the child is not taking the balanced diet for some reason or the other.
- Prone for infections and infestations. Routine deworming once in 6 months is necessary.
7-12 YEARS
- Time to educate about the importance of nutrition and growth and development and regular exercise.
- Likes to grow normally like their parents, brothers and sisters.
- Growth is rather slow, steady but can vary and appetite varies accordingly.
- Parents and teachers very often influences selection of food items.
- Total freedom and fast food centres provide them food giving empty calorie or with salt, sugar and fat food.
- Chocolate drinks and other unpermitted coloured sweets may cause irritability.
- Avoid bed coffee, chocolate drinks with milk which will curtail the intake of breakfast.
- Breakfast, lunch, dinner must provide wholesome healthy foods and should be derived from the four food groups of balanced diet. Of course one can exchange one portion with one egg or meat.
- Breakfast is an important one and often a mixed one. Mixed breakfast make them less attentive,more irritable.
- Regular health check-ups helps us to identify macro nutrients and micro nutrients deficiency under nourished children, over weight and obese children.
13-18 YEARS
- Significant mental, physical and sexual growth occurs.
- Enters with the second stage of growth spurt which lasts for about 1-2 years within this growth period of 5-9 years.
- Gain almost 20% of adult height and 40% of adult weight.
- Muscular ans skeletal growth is more in male resulting in need for more calories.
- Fat deposition is more in girls than boys.
- Sexual development or maturation occurring during this period may also interfere with the intake of nutrients.
- Adolescents also develop significant mental maturation, like abstract thinking, quick decision making, planning well ahead and certain psychological changes .All these may interfere with the intake of nutrients.
- Also develop altered food behaviour like skipping meals, desire to eat in fast food centres.
- Teen girls skip breakfast more than boys. However take snacks from outside once or twice. Commonly taken snacks are soft drinks, snacks containing sugar etc., Soft drinks like coco cola further reduces their serum calcium level which may upset their growth.
- As the energy requirements increases the requirement of certain vitamins particularly vitamin B complex increases.
- Exercise also shapes the and prevent them becoming obese.
- Well balanced diet derived from cereals, pulses, green leafy vegetables, roots and tubers and other vegetables, fruits, sugar and oil and fats in appropriate quantity and quality is all that required to obtain optimal nutrition and growth in adolescent period.
