nutrition problems in school children

[Ishika Seth]

It is difficult to take care of nutritional needs of school going children. Their food preferences depend on what their friends eat in school and what is available to them in school. Many school-aged children depend on junk food to get nourishment. This is a disturbing trend. What do you say?

[Arushi Sahai]

Children need nutritious foods to grow and to function. They have inadequate intake of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Junk foods have become a norm. Snacking is fast becoming the main eating style among children. It is up to the parents to ensure healthy eating habits in children.

[Hetal Kapoor]

High fats and more calories, combined with a decrease in physical activity, have created an obesity problem among children. And add to this lack of physical activity due to increase in popularity of television and video games, better transportation facilities and so on.

[Hemali Mundra]

There can be no running around from the invasion of junk foods and an inactive lifestyle. More children have become overweight and more and more have health issues. Societal pressures such as looking good lead many kids to engage in disordered eating behaviors thus leading to problems such as anorexia, bulimia and so on. Healthful eating habits if encouraged from childhood can ensure a healthy lifestyle even in later years.

[Fatima Shreen]

Hi, this is the most common problem suffered by every parent that their children do not eat properly. There are very few children who like eating vegetables and fruits. It is important that they eat proper food during their growth and developmental years. Their growth is significant but at a slower rate. Children are also seen to be physically very active and that is why they require a lot of nutrition by the body. There are various nutritional problems suffered by the school goers as they do not have proper intake of the healthy nutritional food required by their body.

[Sonia Roy]

Yes, I agree that there are several nutritional problems faced by the school goers. The body requires all the health essentials like energy and proteins. The energy can be gained from the fats and carbohydrates for the physical growth and activity of the body. Children constantly eat as they have continuous growth and physical activities going on. Energy is needed by the brain to function properly and intake of glucose can improve the memory and mood. Protein is also equally important for the building up of the tissues and muscles. Protein is extremely important for the growth of the body and can be received from fish, meat, milk, poultry and other dairy products.

[Malti Shanker]

Hello, the body of a growing child also requires essential fatty acids and calcium and iron in a good amount. If there is no proper intake of the fatty acids it can cause deficiency of the unsaturated fatty acids causing poor performance in school. Further cases children can also get dyslexic and dyspraxic. Calcium is extremely important for the development of bones and teeth and should be consumed daily through milk and other dairy products. Otherwise it can cause osteoporosis in the children. Even iron is an essential component required by the body for increasing the blood flow and can be received from meat and fish.

[Pooja Sinhal]

It is necessary that the children eat properly but before that it is important that you eat properly. Every parent is the role model of their child and he or she looks up to you and tries to form habits which you have. If you do not have proper eating habits, then do not expect your child to have healthy food. It is important that everybody in the house has proper eating habits and eat a variety of food every day and also teach the children to eat a variety of food making sure that there is adequate intake of nutrients.

[Priyanka Mehta]

Eat breakfast every day to help maintain concentration in class. A good breakfast should be able to provide a third of the total daily energy requirement. A typical breakfast includes a cereal, rice, bread, and oats, protein-rich food such as egg, a glass of milk and vitamin C rich fruit e.g. orange, and papaya. One study found that an overnight and morning fast among school children had deleterious effects on memory and attention. Empirical evidence from research on the effects of breakfast on cognition shows that particularly for younger children, skipping breakfast can have adverse effects on both general energy levels and cognition of school children.