Age specific groups are used as practice care Quizlet

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The nutrition and eating issues specific to infants and children are caloric, macronutrient, and micronutrient requirements, eating habits/patterns, food safety, and food insecurity. Note: Macronutrients are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and water. Micronutrients are minerals and vitamins, e.g., calcium and iron, vitamin A and vitamin C.

The caloric, macronutrient, and micronutrient requirements of infants and children will depend on age, gender, and activity level. These requirements are not significantly different from those for other age groups. Still, some specifics are important to know, and there are guidelines for the daily caloric intake for infants and children (USDA, 2015). Example: For a 12-month-old child who weighs 20 pounds/9 kg, multiply the child’s weight times 89, subtract 100 and add 22 – 9 x89 = 801, 801-100 = 701 +22 = 723 calories a day (USDA, 2019).

Macronutrient requirements differ by age, as well. Daily intakes listed below are summarized/compiled from recommendations from the AAP, the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Dietetic Association, and the United States Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services (USDA/HHS). (Duryea, 2019).

• Carbohydrates: These should be 45-65% of the daily caloric intake in all children.
• Fats: Fat intake should not be restricted in children 0 – 2 years of age. From age 2 to 3, fat intake should be 30-35% of daily caloric intake, and from age 4 to age 18, fat intake should be 25-35% of the daily caloric intake.
• Protein: From age 1 to 3, protein should be 5-20% of daily caloric intake. From age 4 to 18, protein should be 10-30% of daily caloric intake.

Infants and children up to 2 years should drink whole milk, not skim or 2%. (Duryea, 2019). Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. Infants and children need fat for the development of the nervous system.

The daily recommended intake for micronutrients is age-specific. Still, supplementation to ensure adequate micronutrients is not needed if the infant/child gets a varied diet and sufficient exposure to sunshine.

Exceptions to this would be vitamin D supplementation for breastfeeding infants and children at risk for vitamin D deficiency due to their nutritional intake and/or lack of exposure to sunlight (CDC, 2019b). Breast milk does not have enough vitamin D to meet the nutritional requirement of a breastfeeding infant. The AAP recommends that breastfeeding infants should be given 400 IU of vitamin D every day (Voortman et al., 2015) Premature infants, infants who are exclusively breastfed, exclusively breastfed and premature infants who are not getting vitamin D supplementation, and infants and children who have low dietary vitamin D intake should be screened for vitamin D deficiency (Misra, 2018).

The daily recommended intake for micronutrients is age-specific. A dietary reference intake calculator that can be used to determine age and gender-specific caloric intake need and macronutrient and micronutrient requirements are available at the website of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) here.

Other sources that are useful for determining nutrition needs are the US Department of Health and Human Services/National Institutes of Health (US DHSS/NIH)

website, Health Information, Fact Sheets for Professionals. The Dietary Reference Intakes and the Daily Values can also be used. They are both available at the National Institutes of Health website using these links:

The eating patterns and habits of infants and children are quite different from adolescents, adults, and the elderly. Infants and children need to eat quite frequently, up to 7 times a day or more, and frequent snacks are necessary. Food disinterest and food fussiness are eating patterns that most children exhibit at some time.

Food safety for infants and children is concerned with choking hazards and foodborne infections. Choking can occur in infants and children because:

• They may not have full dentition
• They may not have learned how to chew foods thoroughly
• They can be easily distracted while eating
• They may be given foods of a certain size that cannot be chewed or are likely to be swallowed and aspirated, such as peanuts, hard candies, and grapes.

Foodborne illnesses are a papillomavirus concern of this age group because the immune system has not fully developed.

Food insecurity is defined as being without reliable access to sufficient amounts of nutritious food. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimated in 2018 that 11.1% of American households were in a state of food insecurity at some time during the year (DHHS, 2019). Food insecurity is not a problem specific to infants and children. However, the potential effects of food insecurity are worse for this age group because of rapid growth and development at this stage of life.