Nutrition in Preschool

and School age

I. Nutritional problems and interventions
II. Guidelines in feeding
III. Recommended diet
 Preschool-age children (ages 4 to 5) are still developing their
eating habits and need encouragement to eat healthy meals and
snacks. These children are eager to learn, especially from other
people and will often imitate eating behaviors of adults. They need
supervision at mealtime as they are still working on chewing and
swallowing skills.

PRESCHOOL NUTRITION
 5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of Preschool Children
• Brief outlines of the five major nutrition related problems of
preschool children are discussed. The five major problems
are:
• 1. Protein Energy Malnutrition
• 2. Vitamins and Deficiency
• 3. Food Behaviour
• 4. Diet for a Preschool Child
• 5. Establishing Good Habits.

Nutritional problems and interventions

 1. Protein Energy
Malnutrition:
• The primary cause of
malnutrition is an
inadequate and faulty diet
which is followed by
poverty and other
socioeconomic factors
which precipitate various
other infections due to
unhygienic living
conditions.
5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of
Preschool Children
The predisposing factors for PEM
are:
• a. Due to poverty mother cannot
provide sufficient food to the
child.
• b. Use of starchy gruels which
provide bulk food but of less
calorific value, malted cereals
can meet the caloric require-
ment.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
• c. Malnutrition inhibits the synthesis of enzymes results
in loss of appetite leading to less consumption of food.
• d. Chronic Infections
• e. Infestations like ascariasis particularly giardiasis leads
to anorexia.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
2. Vitamins and Deficiency:
• Vitamin A deficiency is a major
problem affecting children leading
to blindness. Severe form of
Vitamin A deficiency like
Exophthalmia arises when the diet
contains practically no whole milk,
butter and very limited amounts of
fish, fruits and vegetables and so
lack of both retinol and carotenes.
Protein energy malnutrition further
aggravates the deficiency.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
3. Food Behavior:
• Food plays a vital role in the
development of the whole person
throughout the growing years.
Food could become a means of
communication. It has cultural and
social meanings. It is associated
with emotion and its acceptance or
rejection in personal matter.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
3. Food Behavior:
• The environment a child lives determines
the quality of nutrition the child receives.
Family plays a responsible role for child’s
food habit and established an emotional
climate; the other interdependent factors
being the number of family members,
income, education, the attitude towards
food, parental knowledge of nutrition
[either traditional/modern] varied
attitudes towards child rearing
Authoritarian or non-authoritarian or any
other.
5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of
Preschool Children
 Good food habits have several characteristics:
• a. The correct pattern of diet permits an individual to achieve
potential for the physical and mental development.
• b. Food habits are conducive to delaying and preventing the
onset of certain degenerative diseases.
• c. It contributes to satisfying human relationship and social and
personal enjoyment.
• d. It needs the application of knowledge
of human behavior and development,
psychology and sociology.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
4. Diet for a Preschool Child:
• Toddlers have a very short span of attention and are easily
distracted from eating. Their response to food is rather
inconsistent. The muscle coordination is limited and eating
behavior is generally messy. When opportunity is provided, the
preschooler learns things faster by taking advantage of parents.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
4. Diet for a Preschool Child:
• Mothers must be reassured that child will remain well nourished
as long as the foods contains all the required nutrients. Young
children prefer mildly flavored foods and colorful fruits.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
5. Establishing Good Habits:
• Meals should be served at regular meal times in a pleasant
environment. The child should be comfortably seated. Children
enjoy colorful meals; their appetites vary from day to day. The
quantity served for the children should not be too large. The
portions should be small.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Preschool Children
 Types of food suitable for a preschooler:
• a. Fresh fruit juices
• b. Milk and Milk beverages, curd, cheese pieces
• c. Fruit pieces like slices of apple, papaya, mango, sapota, etc.
• d. Vegetables [Boiled/raw]: carrots, cucumber, potato, tomato,
cauliflower, beans, etc.
• e. Malted cereals like Ragi, Cornflakes, puffed rice, rice flakes,
etc.

5 Major Nutrition Related Problems of

Note:
Preschool Children
Too young children should not be given things like nuts, puffed rice, popcorns, or vegetable pieces as they can
choke on them and aspirate food items.
The following are some helpful mealtime hints for preschool-age
children:
• Try to control when and where food is eaten by your children by
providing regular daily meal times with social interaction and
demonstration of healthy eating behaviors.
• Involve children in the selection and preparation of foods and teach
them to make healthy choices by helping them to select foods based on
their nutritional value.
• For children in general, reported dietary intakes of the following are
low enough to be of concern by the USDA: calcium, magnesium,
potassium, and fiber. Select foods with these nutrients when possible.
• Most Americans need to reduce the amount of calories they consume.
When it comes to weight control, calories do count. Controlling
portion sizes and eating nonprocessed foods helps limit calorie intake
and increase nutrients.

Guidelines in Feeding
The following are some helpful mealtime hints for preschool-age
children:
• Parents are encouraged to limit children’s video, television
watching, and computer use to less than two hours daily and
replace the sedentary activities with activities that require more
movement.
• Children and adolescents need at least 60 minutes of moderate to
vigorous physical activity on most days to have good health and
fitness and for healthy weight during growth.
• To prevent dehydration, encourage children to drink fluid
regularly during physical activity and drink several glasses of
water or other fluid after the physical activity is completed.

Guidelines in Feeding
 School-age children (ages 6 to 12 years) need healthy foods and
nutritious snacks to fuel their busy bodies. They have a consistent but
slow rate of growth, requiring them to eat four to five times a day
(including snacks). Eating healthy after-school snacks is important, as
these snacks may contribute up to one-third of the total calorie intake
for the day. Remember that school-age children may also be eating
more foods outside of the home.

SCHOOL-AGE NUTRITION
• Many food habits, likes and dislikes are established during
this time. This makes it a perfect time to experiment with
new foods, as school-age children are often willing to eat a
wider variety of foods than their younger siblings. Family,
friends and the media (especially TV) influence their food
choices and eating habits. Be sure to talk about nutrition,
encouraging the child to make their own healthy choices.

School-age Nutrition
Common Nutrition Problems Faced By School-aged Children
• Brief outlines of the common nutrition problems faced by
school-aged children are discussed below. The common
problems are:
• Obesity
• Eating disorders
• Tooth decay
• Anaemia

Nutritional problems and interventions

• Nutrition is the prime duty of the
parents to ensure that the children
eat balanced diet rich in nutrients
in order to stay healthy and
strong, minimize the risk of some
diseases and enhance the learning
capacity. The growing trend of
increasingly depending on
convenient foods has given rise to
a number of nutritional problems
in children. Here are a few
common nutritional problems
noticed in school going children.

Common Nutrition Problems

1. Obesity
• Overweight and obesity are
becoming the most common
trend in society. Obesity is
primarily a nutritional disorder
and a major risk factor for
cardiovascular diseases when the
children grow up into their
adulthood. When the diet they
consume is rich in fats and the
lifestyle they enjoy is less
physically active, children are
predisposed to a host of problems
which include hyperglycemia,
cardiovascular problems.
Common Nutrition Problems
 2. Eating disorders
• The medical world is today coming
across the diagnosis of a large
number of cases involving bulimia
and anorexia in the school going age
children. Hence they restrict food
intake drastically leading to eating
disorders. For the purpose of
minimizing the risk of heart diseases
and maintain a healthy level of
cholesterol in the body, children
must cultivate a healthy eating habit
and engage in adequate exercises.
Just to maintain the desired amounts
of body weight and facilitate higher
intake of healthy nutrients.

Common Nutrition Problems

3. Tooth decay
• The dental health of children is
drastically affected these days due to
their indulgence in sugary foods,
confectionary and soft drinks.
Consuming a large amount of sticky
sugary and starchy foods is seen to
make the foods stick to the teeth
leading to tooth decay.

Common Nutrition Problems

 4. Anemia
• Is a very common nutritional
disorder in children due to the diet
characterized by iron deficiency.
Since iron is the oxygen carrying
component of the blood, anemia in
school going children can bring
about a variety of problems including
lower school achievement on
account of lessened cognitive
development, poor attention
capabilities and fatigue. With iron
deficiency, children are most likely
to score much below the average
marks in mathematics. This
condition was seen more prevalent in
girls than boys.
Common Nutrition Problems
Helpful Tips to Ensure Good Nutrition Habits for School-age Children
• Always serve breakfast, even if it has to be “on the run.” Some ideas for a
quick, healthy breakfast include fruit, milk, bagel, cheese toast, cereal,
peanut butter sandwich and fruit smoothies.
• Take advantage of big appetites after school by serving healthy snacks,
such as fruit, vegetables and dip, yogurt, turkey or chicken sandwich,
cheese and crackers, or milk and cereal.
• Show your children what healthy eating looks like by setting a good
example at mealtimes.

Guidelines in feeding
Helpful Tips to Ensure Good Nutrition Habits for School-age Children
• Make healthy foods easily accessible.
• Allow children to help with meal planning and preparation.
• Serve meals at the table, instead of in front of the television, to avoid
distractions.

Guidelines in feeding
Helpful Tips to Ensure Good Nutrition Habits for School-age Children
• Fill half of the plate with colorful fruits and vegetables.
• Provide calorie-free beverages (water) throughout the day, to avoid filling
up on non-nutritive calories.
• Encourage physical activity daily; this can include organized sporting
activities or something as simple as dancing in the living room.

Guidelines in feeding
Always serve breakfast, even if it has to be "on the run." Some ideas
for a quick, healthy breakfast include:
1. Fruit
2. Milk
3. Bagel
4. Cheese toast
5. Cereal
6. Peanut butter sandwich

Recommended diet
Take advantage of big appetites after school by serving healthy snacks,
such as:
1. Fruit
2. Vegetables and dip
3. Yogurt
4. Turkey or chicken sandwich
5. Cheese and crackers
6. Milk and cereal

Recommended diet
Take advantage of big appetites after school by serving healthy snacks,
such as:
1. Fruit
2. Vegetables and dip
3. Yogurt
4. Turkey or chicken sandwich
5. Cheese and crackers
6. Milk and cereal

Recommended diet
• Allow children to help with meal planning and preparation.
• Serve meals at the table, instead of in front of the television, to
avoid distractions.
• Grains. Foods that are made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal,
barley, or another cereal grain are grain products. Examples include
whole wheat, brown rice, and oatmeal.
• Vegetables. Vary your vegetables. Choose a variety of colorful
vegetables, including dark green, red, and orange vegetables,
legumes (peas and beans), and starchy vegetables.

Setting a good example for eating habbits

• Fruits. Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice counts as part of the fruit
group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be
whole, cut up, or pureed.
• Dairy. Milk products and many foods made from milk are
considered part of this food group. Focus on fat-free or low-fat
products, as well as those that are high in calcium.
• Protein. Go lean on protein. Choose low-fat or lean meats and
poultry. Vary your protein routine—choose more fish, nuts, seeds,
peas, and beans.

Setting a good example for eating habbits

END