Special Dietary Requirements For Children

Children have nutritional needs different from those of *****s
in three respects:

1)Their energy requirement per unit of weight is higher than
that of *****s.

2)Their food should contain a higher proportion of
body-building materials (protein and mineral elements) and of
vitamins than that of *****s.

3)Their diet should be selected with special care to include
only foods which are readily digestible.

Energy Requirements

Qualitatively, the nutritional factors necessary for the child
are the same as those required to nourish an *****, namely,
energy of fuel, protein, mineral salts and vitamins, plus
suitable amounts of water and fiber. Quantitatively, however,
their requirements differ. This is due to the fact that:

1)The basal metabolism, the amount of energy used in internal
processes of the body, is considerably higher in youth than in
***** life.

2)The child is usually much more active than the *****, and
uses a great deal of energy in work and play.

3)Lastly, the child must have extra energy to grow on or to
store in the new tissues that are being built.

Need for Tissue-Building Material

The need of children for vitamins and tissue-building minerals
is likewise proportionately higher than in *****s. It has been
estimated that growing children usually need more than twice as
much protein and three to four times as much calcium per unit of
body weight as do *****s.

Protein is required for building muscle tissues, as well as for
the growth of the various organs; whereas the average ***** does
not need more than 10 percent of his calories in the form of
proteins, about 15 percent of the calories as protein will
probably be safer allowance for growing children, who are
storing protein.

Moreover, probably about two-thirds of the protein in the diet
of children should be from the foods of animal origin (chiefly
milk and eggs), which furnish complete proteins and those more
efficient for growth than vegetable proteins. Hence, if a child
is fed a quart of milk daily, he will be fairly certain to
receive a safe surplus of protein in the best available form.

Digestive Abilities

Lastly, it should be fairly obvious that it is essential to
limit the foods used in the diet of children to such foods as
are easily digestive or readily handled by the digestive tract
of the child at the special age for which one is planning.

The alimentary tract of infants is not equipped to digest
starches and fats, and only gradually develops the ability to
handle these food materials so that only small amounts of very
thoroughly cooked starchy foods can be given during the first
year, while fats must be restricted in amount even in the second
year.

Infants and young children seem to have less immunity to the
presence of bacteria in the intestinal tract and the mucous
membrane lining their alimentary tract is also more sensitive to
irritating substances than in later life. Foods which are
difficult to masticate, such as vegetable, nuts, etc., should be
given to young children only in finely minced or ground form.

Raw vegetables and most raw fruits have to be introduced with
caution as the digestive tract becomes stringer and the teeth
are well-developed.

About The Author: Grace Palce is writing articles about stair
lift brands http://www.stair-lift-review.com/chair/brands/ for
her stairlift site: http://www.stair-lift-review.com/