Chapter 15

Nutrition from Infancy

Through Adolescence

By David Simpson
Nutrition and Child Health
 Infants need more
calories per pound
than of body weight
than young and
older adults to
support their rapid
pace oh growth.
Infant Growth and Nutrition Needs
During infancy attitudes toward food and the eating process. If parents and
other caregivers practice good nutrition habits and are flexible, they will
lead to an infant into helpful food eating.
The whole thought babies, “is all they seem to eat and sleep” is because a
infants weights doubles in the first 4 to 6 months and triples within the first
year which required lots of nutriment. It will take the next 5 years to double
that weight seen in the first year of growth. An infant will all so gain in
height at least 50% in the first year and continue to gain height through
their teens years
The growth and development needs a lot more food than it does than the
body needs just to maintain it size. When nutrients are missing at critical
phases of this process, growth and development will slow and may even
stop.
 The Growing Infant
Based on the data of a babies who measures 36 lbs, 42” height and a head size of 23 inches,
your child falls into the following percentiles:
Length = above percentile 95
Weight = above percentile 95
Head Circumference = above percentile 95
What do the percentiles mean?
If your child is in the 20h percentile for weight, for example, he weighs more than 20 percent
of children his age and less than the other 80 percent.
What can my baby's growth chart tell me?
Your baby's growth chart can give you a general picture of how your baby is developing
physically. By comparing your baby's measurements — weight, length, and head
circumference — to national averages for children of the same age and sex, and to
measurements from previous checkups, the doctor can determine whether your baby is
following a healthy overall growth pattern.

Don't get too hung up on your baby's percentiles, though. While the current growth charts
(released in November 2000 and based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics,
U.S. Public Health Service) are a vast improvement over earlier charts, they're not the last
word on how your baby is doing. The most important thing is that your baby is growing at a
steady, appropriate rate, not that he's hit some magic number.
Infants Nutritional Needs
 Calories: 89 kcal x weight + 75,
from 0 to 3 mo. From 4 to 6
mo.89 kcal x weight of infant +
44; form 7 to 12 mo. Is 89 kcal x
weight – 78
 Carbohydrates: 60 gram per day
at 0 to 6 mo. And 95 grams per
day at 7 to 12 mo.
 Protein: 9 grams per day for
younger infants, 14 grams.
 Fats: infants need 30 grams per
day, essential fatty acids should
make of 15%, about 5 grams
per day.
Adipose Tissue Growth
 Since 1970 have speculated
that over feeding during infancy
may increase the number of
adipose tissue cells. Today we
know that the number of
adipose cells can also increase
as adulthood obesity develops.
Preschool children: Nutrition
Concern
 Help chose Nutritional foods:
The ongoing battle with parents
and children on what to eat is an
everyday battle. Home cooked
meals verse convenience food,
time also plays a huge roll in the
food concern
 Pre School Nutritional problems:
Iron deficiency, Dentals care,
Constipation.
Type 2 Diabetes
 Type 2 diabetes is generally
thought to be an adult condition.
Physician have found an
alarming increase of the
frequency of the disease among
children and teenagers. Up to
85% of the children were found
to be over weight.
Food Allergies
 On the rise between 1997 and
2007 and children is about
18%. An intolerance caused by
an individual’s inability to digest
a certain food.
 Symptoms: Classic- itching,
reddening skin, asthma,
swelling and choking.
 GI tract- nausea: vomiting,
diarrhea, intestinal gas,pain.
 General- headache, skin
reaction, tension and fatigue,
psychological problems
Questions

 What percentile is a boy who weighs 36

lbs, 42” tall at 3 years of age?
 When is the time when a infant grows
the most?
 Could an over weight infant lead to an
overweight adult?