It is not necessary to assessment the components item for item in choosing a meal or preparation a menu. A well-balanced diet contains the nutritious foods required for healthy growing children. Studies show that the body creates better use of nutrients when a variety of foods is eaten.
Choice of foods from every of the following groups will usually provide the necessary nutritive:
- Meat, fish, fowl, and eggs;
- Milk and milk products;
- Fruits and vegetables;
- Cereals, bread-stuffs, and miscellaneous foods.
every day selection from these four basic groups promotes good eating habits, and these habits should be formed very near the beginning in childhood. Teachers must remember that everyone’s mothers do not cook the equal foods. So in addition to selection of foods from the various groups, there must be adjustments to national habits of eating. It would not be amiss for teachers to take a course in nutrition in order to acquire basic in order and learn how to stimulate interest in good eating practices.
Good nutrition of every systems of the body establishes the basis for their good function. Correct food is necessary in children and young adults for maintenance of good health, for continued growth, and for sensible physical activity.
Benefits of Good Nutrition
A well-nourished child grows and develops at an acceptable pace. He is brimful of power and life, interested in play, and appears relaxed. His eyes shine, his hair is sleek, his skin feels good and elastic, his coloring is usual, and he holds himself in good posture for his age. He is poised and self-confident, eats and sleeps well, gains weight and height and has fat under his skin.
He is a healthy, healthy individual. If he remains healthy, he reaches puberty in average time, grows to maturity, and achieves his potential. After a few exposures to them, a teacher usually becomes fairly a connoisseur of healthy children. In brief, the criteria used by an educator in judging nutritional status are weight, appearance, and action or performance.
Growing Healthy
In evaluating weight, comparison of a child’s progress in height and weight with his own history record is desirable. The growth charts should be used and kept up to date with interval measurements. As long as there are a few gains, no anxiety is indicated. Failure to gain weight may occasion some speculation and a near the beginning recheck. some loss in weight should have an explanation and an investigation, if necessary.
A recent illness or moving upset can explanation a lot of the losers. Progressive loss of weight is serious and should be discussed with the school nurse and the relations. On the other hand, a child who lives mostly on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and carbonated beverages may well uphold average or excessive weight and still be malnourished.
This does not mean that the more often than not accepted standards should not be used. Rather, there should be an appreciation of their interpretation. The parents whose child is labeled as healthy according to weight standards simply may be given a false sense of security. Evaluation of these standards for growth and growth and for nutritional status has been discussed under Growth plus Development.
It is from time to time difficult to decide concerning a child’s nutritional status. A total health examination may be necessary. There may even be disagreement among physicians. A good deal of in order may be necessary before a conclusion is reached. The various factors which have an effect on nutrition (Causes of Malnutrition) must be in use into consideration.
An expert eye can size up a youngster and watch his every day performance. Does the child look thin and pale and have prominent ribs? Does he have rolls of fat? Even if each rib can be counted, is the child healthy, active, and full of good humor? Even if the child appears to have a standard weight, is he flabby, listless, slumped in posture, and does he have circles under his eyes?