Children's nutrition
Physiology and hygiene of children's nutrition. School years are a time of rapid growth, continuous physical and mental development. Rapid growth, constant movement, intense mental activity - all this places increased demands on the body, leading to high energy expenditure. For growth and ensuring normal vital activity of the body, diet, among other factors, is of great importance. By diet, one should understand the observance of moderation, variety of food, regularity of its intake.
A clear meal schedule is of great importance for digestion and assimilation of nutrients - sources of energy. The intervals between meals should be no less than and no more than 3.5...4 hours. If a child eats regularly at the same hours, then the conditioned reflex secretion of juices begins even before eating, which significantly activates the digestive process. On the contrary, in the case of unsystematic eating, the amount of juices secreted by the digestive glands is much less: all conditioned reflexes during eating are not manifested. Sometimes hungry children do not wait for a regular lunch or dinner, but “grab” something on the go. The amount of food they eat is not enough to meet the body’s needs. This bad habit disrupts the normal diet, as it worsens the appetite during the next meal.
Another condition of the diet is its moderation. Excess food is very harmful to the child’s body. Overeating leads to the development of various diseases (for example, obesity), and also reduces the child’s mental activity. When drawing up diets, it should be taken into account that the food should be sufficient in quantity, nutritious and tasty.
The nutritional value of various foods. Each food has its own characteristics related to its chemical composition. There are products of plant and animal origin. Plant foods are mainly carbohydrate, that is, they contain a lot of carbohydrates and little protein. Animal foods, on the contrary, contain a lot of protein, and very little or no carbohydrates. Knowledge of the properties of a particular product allows you to use it as rationally as possible.
The largest amount of protein is found in meat, fish, eggs. Low-fat varieties of meat are recommended for children. Various dairy products contain a lot of protein. However, there are also proteins in products of plant origin. They are especially abundant in legumes (beans, beans, peas, lentils, soy). A person gets carbohydrates by eating bread, cereals, potatoes and sugar.
The body gets fats from vegetable and butter oil, lard. There is a lot of fat in meat, cheese, eggs, sour cream.
Nutritional norms. A person’s nutritional norms depend on their age, profession, and lifestyle. During physical labor, nutritional norms are higher, since food is the main source of energy for our body. Therefore, the more energy the body spends, the more food is needed to cover energy costs.
The types of energy with which the body’s activity is associated are diverse: electrical, chemical, mechanical, and the energy of molecular motion. The total energy value of food is conventionally measured in kilojoules.
When drawing up nutritional standards for children, the following should be taken into account. Children's food should have a relatively higher energy value, since for each kilogram of body weight, a child needs a larger amount of energy than an adult. For example, a child under 1 year old needs 460.5 kJ per 1 kg of body weight per day; a child of primary school age - 293.1; a young man of 18 years old - 209.3 kJ.
However, satisfying the body's need for energy is far from everything. For example, a person needs to eat 1.5 kg of white wheat bread to get 14,235 kJ. Such monotonous food cannot satisfy the body's needs: it needs a variety of animal and plant foods that contain the necessary amounts of proteins, fats and carbohydrates (table 1).
Table 1. Approximate food standards for the daily diet of schoolchildren 6...10 years old
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Product name
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Amount of food products, g
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Product name
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Amount of food products, g
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6-7
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8-10
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6-7
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8-10
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Rye bread
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40
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100
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Meat
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80
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100
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Wheat bread
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100
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150
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Fish
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50
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75
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Potato
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200
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300
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Milk
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500
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500
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Various vegetables
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175
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300
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Oil
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10
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10
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Fruits and berries
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215
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220
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Butter
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30
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40
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Sugar
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60
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60
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Eggs (pcs.)
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1
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1
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Daily ration. A growing body needs four meals a day. The daily ration should be distributed as follows: breakfast - 20...25%, second breakfast - 10...15, lunch - 45...50, dinner - 20...25% of the daily amount of food. Determining nutritional norms and making a diet, take into account the child's age, body weight, energy value of products, their taste, etc. Only such accurate consideration of the composition, quality and quantity of nutrients in food products ensures coverage of all the energy costs of a growing body.
In small schools, the required quantity and quality of food are not always taken into account when preparing the menu. However, the teacher, who is responsible for the health of children and organizes meals, is obliged to know at least oriented data about the energy value of individual dishes. For example, a full plate of meat soup contains 837.4...1256 kJ, a full plate of milk soup - 1591.0...1716.6, a meat dish with a side dish - 2093.4...2512.1, vegetable dishes - 837.4...1674.7, a glass of compote or jelly - 418.7...628.0 kJ.
The importance of food diversity. Varied food is food that consists of various products of plant and animal origin. Only such food meets the needs of a growing body, as it contains the necessary amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, mineral salts and vitamins. The more diverse the composition of food, the better it is absorbed by the body.
The menu for children should be thought out in advance, taking into account their age characteristics and nutritional needs. Children do not need spicy seasonings, such as mustard and pepper, to whet their appetite. But for them, sauerkraut, vegetable salads, vinaigrettes, etc. should be included in the menu. Very useful dishes from milk, dairy products and cereals. A prerequisite for the complete assimilation of nutrients is the palatability of food. Eating the same dishes day after day leads to a monotonous diet, sharply reduces appetite and reduces the secretion of digestive juices.
Children's nutrition is somewhat different in summer and winter. In winter, at low temperatures, the child's body spends more energy. Therefore, the child's food during this period should have a higher energy value. In the summer, when the ambient temperature is high, food containing easily digestible nutrients necessary for the body is recommended, since the activity of the digestive glands in children decreases sharply in the heat, and the amount of digestive juices is insufficient. For example, dairy-plant food is easily digestible. Dairy food contains all the nutrients necessary for the normal growth and development of children, and vegetable food, in addition, contains a lot of vitamins, mineral salts and fiber, which increases the peristalsis of the intestines. Abusing fatty and meaty food in the summer can lead to its stagnation in the stomach and intestines, which causes fermentation, putrefaction, and often disorders of the digestive tract.
Physiological significance of three dishes. A child's lunch, like an adult's, should consist of three dishes. The physiological significance of the first, second and third meals for the body was studied in the laboratory of I.P. Pavlov.
The first course is various soups. They contain many juicing substances. Soups do not have a special nutritional value, they "prepare" the stomach for the second course. Juicing substances are absorbed through the walls of the stomach into the blood and spread throughout the body. They approach the glands of the stomach, causing their increased secretion.
The second course is the most nutritious. It is boiled, fried and stewed meat or fish with various side dishes. Digestion of this food requires a large amount of enzymes in the digestive tract that break down proteins, fats and carbohydrates.
The third course is raw fruits, jelly, compotes, juices. It is useful because it contains many vitamins.
Organization of meals at school. Not only the family, parents, but also the school and teachers should take care of the proper organization of schoolchildren's nutrition. In small schools where there are no school doctors, the teacher is responsible for organizing the nutrition of students in the class.
The school should have a buffet that provides schoolchildren with hot breakfasts. The energy value of school breakfasts is usually 1200...1600 kJ. In order for the buffet to be organized correctly, those responsible for preparing food must draw up a menu of hot breakfasts for the week, taking into account the nature of the children's activities and the season. Two dishes are provided for hot breakfast, and three dishes for lunch (for groups with an extended day).
Instilling hygienic skills in children in connection with eating. Primary school children come to school with different levels of hygienic knowledge, skills and abilities. The teacher's task is to consolidate the already acquired useful hygienic skills and develop new ones. A necessary condition for teaching primary school children to the culture of behavior at the table is the teacher's example. Such skills include mandatory washing of hands before eating, and the culture of behavior during meals. Meanwhile, it often happens that after the bell rings from class, the teacher takes the students to the dining room or, if the children have breakfast in the classroom, suggests preparing the desks for eating, forgetting to make sure that the students wash their hands.
If a schoolchild sits at the table, carelessly leaning back on the back of the chair, or, conversely, leaning his chest and elbows on the table, talks when his mouth is full of food, when he slurps, sniffs, blows his nose, wipes his lips with his hands, and his hands on his clothes, this makes a bad impression and reduces the appetite of other children. Reduces appetite and untidy appearance of the dining room.
Prevention of food poisoning. Food poisoning is divided into two groups: non-bacterial and bacterial. Non-bacterial poisoning is chemical poisoning that occurs as a result of the penetration of various toxic substances into the body. Such poisonings occur, for example, when consuming inedible mushrooms, berries, fruits, as well as in the case of ingestion of toxic chemicals and other substances that can be formed as a result of improper storage, and sometimes cooking.
Bacterial poisonings occur as a result of consuming spoiled, poor-quality products infected with putrefactive bacteria, staphylococci, which, multiplying in a nutrient medium, secrete a large number of poisonous substances - toxins. A particularly strong poison is secreted by the botulism microbe, which is sometimes found in spoiled canned food. Bacterial poisons are also formed in the case of improper storage of fish dishes, cakes, pastries, etc. Food poisonings are characterized by the following symptoms: the appearance of general weakness, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and sometimes fainting. With botulism - the most dangerous bacterial food poisoning - the symptoms are different: headache, visual impairment, loss of speech, and then fainting.
The first signs of food poisoning appear after 5-6 hours, and sometimes earlier. As for the symptoms of botulism, they appear after a day or more. In children's institutions, poisoning can be massive. Such poisonings are usually caused by the same cause and have common symptoms.
In the prevention of food poisoning, a primary school teacher plays a significant role. He is obliged to familiarize students with the causes of poisoning and ensure that they firmly learn the rule: do not consume unfamiliar plants and stale food.
At the first signs of poisoning, the teacher must immediately call a doctor and be able to provide first aid to the victim before his arrival, first of all, free his digestive tract from harmful substances. To do this, a sick child can be given several glasses of warm water with soda (0.5 teaspoon per glass) or a weak solution of potassium permanganate. If the child has already stopped vomiting, then to maintain strength, he can be given strong tea or coffee.