Home Science: Class 11 (Book 2) — Chapter 8: Nutrition, Health and Well-being

Infancy is marked by rapid and phenomenal growth, especially during early infancy (birth to 6 months). Infants require twice as many calories per kg of body weight as an adult doing heavy work. Key growth indicators include:

• Weight: Doubles in 6 months, triples in 1 year.
• Length: 50-55 cm at birth, increasing to 75 cm by 1 year.
• Circumference: Head and chest circumference both increase.

To support this rapid growth, infants require:

• Protein: For muscular growth.
• Calcium: For healthy bones.
• Iron: For growth and expansion of blood volume.

Breast feeding is nature's gift to the newborn. WHO recommends exclusive breast feeding for the first six months, during which even water is not required.

• Colostrum: The yellow-coloured fluid produced during the first 2–3 days after birth. It is highly rich in antibodies and protects the child from infections.
• Benefits of Breast Feeding: It is nutritionally tailor-made; contains emulsified fats; has low protein content which reduces pressure on kidneys; Vitamin C is preserved; hygienic; provides natural immunity; protects mothers against breast and ovarian cancers; and fosters a healthy emotional relationship.
• Low Birth Weight (LBW) Infants: A baby weighing less than 2.5 kgs at birth is considered LBW. They face poor sucking/swallowing reflexes and low absorption capacity. Mother's milk is the best food for them due to its essential amino acids, sodium, and anti-microbial properties.

Complementary feeding is the process of gradually introducing other foods along with breast milk, starting by 6 months of age. These foods should be calorie-dense and provide at least 10% of energy as proteins.

Low-Cost Complementary Foods:

• Indian Multipurpose Flour: Low-fat groundnut flour and bengal gram (75:25).
• Malt Food: Cereal malt, low-fat groundnut flour, and bengal gram (4:4:2).
• Balahar: Whole wheat, groundnut, and bengal gram flours (7:2:2).
• Win Food: Pearl millet, green gram dal, groundnut, and jaggery (5:2:2:2).
• Poshak: Cereal (wheat/maize/rice/jowar), pulse (chana/green gram), groundnut, and jaggery (4:2:1:2).
• Amutham: Rice, ragi, bengal gram, sesame, groundnut flours, and jaggery (1.5:1.5:1.5:2.5:2.5).
• Amritham: Wheat, bengal gram, soya, groundnut flours, and beet sugar (4:2:1:1:2).

Immunisation protects children from diseases by injecting an inactive form of a pathogen, inducing white blood cells to produce antibodies.

Common Health and Nutrition Problems:

• Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM): Leads to growth retardation, diarrhoea, and dehydration.
• Anemia: Caused by iron deficiency.
• Nutritional Blindness: Caused by Vitamin A deficiency.
• Rickets and Osteopenia: Bone-related disorders due to shortage of Vitamin D and Calcium.
• Goitre: Enlargement of the thyroid gland due to Iodine deficiency.

Preschoolers are highly active, though their growth rate slows down compared to infancy. This is a critical stage for establishing healthy eating habits.

Guidelines for Healthy Eating:

• Make mealtime a pleasant family time; children learn by imitation.
• Offer variety in child-sized portions.
• Maintain regularity in meal and snack times.
• Serve easy-to-handle finger foods (e.g., small sandwiches, chapatti rolls, idlis).
• Never bribe or punish a child to finish food.

Diets should emphasize three aspects: Variety (textures, tastes, colours), Balance (complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, essential fats), and Moderation (limiting sweets, fast foods, and refined flours).

Feeding Children with Special Needs:

• Observations: Monitor abilities to handle food, preferences, and allergies.
• Developing Eating Skills: Allow extra time, use adaptive equipment, and encourage self-feeding.
• Special Diets: Thicken thin liquids for spastic children; soften or chop lumpy foods. Manage altered senses of taste/smell in children with autism.

School-age is a latent period of growth, but children are highly active. Gender-specific growth patterns emerge around 9–10 years. Girls require increased protein, iron, and calcium to prepare for menarche, while boys require extra calories to support the adolescent growth spurt.

Dietary planning should aim for variety, ensure good nutrition, limit saturated fats, salt, and sugar (fat calories should be maintained at 20% of total calories), ensure breakfast is never skipped, and involve children in meal planning.

Factors Influencing Food Habits:

• Family Environment: Positive parenting and eating together shape healthy food preferences.
• Media: TV commercials and celebrity endorsements often tempt children toward low-fibre, high-sugar, and high-fat foods.
• Peers: Peer groups strongly influence food choices; children are more willing to try new foods in group settings.
• Socio-cultural Influences: Regional food habits shape preferences (e.g., idlis/dosas in the South, parathas/rajma-rice in the North).
• Erratic Appetite: Temporary mood swings affecting food intake should not be reinforced with bribes or punishments.

• Obesity: A growing health risk due to high-fat, high-salt, low-fibre diets, and sedentary lifestyles. It increases the risk of Type II diabetes and hypertension.
• Under nutrition: A serious hazard among lower socio-economic groups, leading to poor school performance and higher morbidity.
• Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDMS): A government initiative providing free lunch to school children (Classes I–VIII). It has significantly improved classroom performance, attention spans, school enrollment, and reduced the gender gap in education.