1- Choose a nutrition related problem and describe it in a flow chart (This should include a small paragraph defining it in 500 words)
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Explanation:
Good nutrition during childhood and adolescence is essential for growth and development, health and well-being, and the prevention of some chronic diseases. Yet many American children’s diets fall considerably short of recommended dietary standards. Furthermore, poor diet and physical inactivity, resulting in an energy imbalance, are the most important factors contributing to the increase in obesity in childhood. Obesity is the most pressing challenge to nutritional health in this first decade of the 21st century (CDC, 1999). The major nutrition issues among children and adolescents have shifted from nutrient deficiency diseases, common in the first half of the 20th century, to concerns today about overconsumption, poor dietary quality, and food choices. However, food insecurity remains a concern among the poor (Briefel and Johnson, 2004). This chapter provides an overview on nutrition-related health concerns, current dietary and nutrient intakes, and dietary trends over the past 20–40 years for children and adolescents.
Importance of Healthful Dietary Behaviors in School-Age Children and Adolescents
During childhood and adolescence, good nutrition and dietary behaviors are important to achieve full growth potential and appropriate body composition, to promote health and well-being, and to reduce the risk of
chronic diseases in adulthood. Children require sufficient energy, protein, and other nutrients for growth as well as maintenance of body functions. Nutrient needs tend to parallel rates of growth. Growth continues at a steady rate during childhood, then accelerates during adolescence, creating increases in nutrient needs to support the rapid growth rate and increase in lean body mass and body size (Story et al., 2002a). During puberty, adolescents achieve the final 15 to 20 percent of stature, gain 50 percent of adult body weight, and accumulate up to 40 percent of skeletal mass (Story et al., 2002a). Inadequate intakes of energy, protein, or certain micronutrients will be reflected in slow growth rates, delayed sexual maturation, inadequate bone mass, and low body reserves of micronutrients (Story et al., 2002a).
In addition to the impact on growth and development, children’s diets are important to ensure overall health and well-being. Dietary practices of children and adolescents affect their risk for a number of health problems, including obesity, iron deficiency, and dental caries. Inadequate nutrition also lowers resistance to infectious disease, and may adversely affect the ability to function at peak mental and physical ability. Obesity in children and adolescents is associated with a number of immediate health risks, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes (T2D), metabolic syndrome, sleep disturbances, orthopedic problems, and psychosocial problems (Daniels, 2006; IOM, 2005b). Furthermore, obese adolescents are likely to remain overweight as adults (IOM, 2005b). Indeed, longitudinal epidemiological studies provide evidence that obesity, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertension track from childhood into adulthood and lifestyle choices such as diet and excess caloric intake influence these conditions (Gidding et al., 2005).
There is concern about long-term health as certain dietary patterns, developed in childhood and carried into adulthood, result in an increased risk for chronic diseases, such as obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, and some types of cancer later in life. Some of the physiological processes that lead to diet-related chronic diseases have their onset during childhood. For example, studies indicate that the process of atherosclerosis begins in childhood (Gidding et al., 2005). Nutritional factors contribute significantly to the burden of preventable illnesses and premature deaths in the United States (DHHS, 2000). Four of the ten leading causes of death in adults are diet related: diabetes, coronary heart disease (CHD), certain cancers, and strokes. Diet is also associated with osteop