The nutritional needs of an adolescent

Adolescence is the stage of life when changes begin in the body, preparing the body for adulthood. This also happens to be the stage when children stop being absolutely obedient to their parents and elders. They like to do things their way. This behavior pattern extends to nutrition also. They like to eat only what they like, relying heavily on personal likes and dislikes. In this process, they tend to eat junk food or just selected food items, thus missing out on essential nutrients. There is physical growth of the body during adolescence and hormonal changes also occur. Skeletal growth occurs at this stage of life. To meet these changes, the nutritional requirement of an adolescent is more and different as compared to a child or adult grown up person. Adolescents sometimes suffer from nutritional deficiencies in spite of having access to good quality abundant food. This happens due to food fads. Anorexia nervosa, a behavior disorder in which teenage girls avoid eating in order to stay slim also leads to malnutrition. Some youngsters suffer from other extremes of malnutrition, i.e. obesity. They consume lot of calories and are not active physically. Many adolescents hang out with friends and tend to eat food late in the night. This results in indigestion and reduces appetite. Most of the urban teenagers are fond of junk food and avoid taking fresh food. A few adolescents resort to drinking alcohol and taking abusive substances, which impairs their appetite as well as nutrition. All these factors lead to malnutrition in youngsters.The amount of calories needed for teenagers vary as per the level of physical activity of the individual. But on an average, a teenager needs 2200-3000 calories per day. Proteins are needed to help the body cope with wear and tear of tissues.Zinc is needed for growth of the body and also sexual development. It is at this stage when bones grow and calcium is needed. Iron is needed to ensure adequate stores of iron and meet the iron requirement of the body. Girls need more iron than boys because they lose some blood every month in menstrual periods. For neuromuscular growth, eye sight, good digestion, improved brain function, enhancing body’s immunity, vitamins are needed in greater amounts than as for adults.If an adolescent lacks in any of these nutrients, his growth is affected and he can face multiple health related problems. These problems occur not only now but can also affect his/her overall health as an adult. For example an individual having calcium deficiency during young growing years will lack necessary bone density as a grown up. He will suffer from pain in limbs, backache and is also prone to pathological fractures, i.e. spontaneous fractures without any trauma. One lacking adequate iron at this age will suffer from anemia after growing up. This will result in early fatigue and inability to work.Those who are obese from a young age suffer from diseases related to obesity like diabetes, heart problems, e.t.c., as young adults, i.e., much before middle age. Parents should understand very well that nutritional supplements like tablets and syrups of vitamins, calcium, iron, e.t.c., are not a substitute for fresh food. Taking them is alright for a short while if somebody is sick or recovering from sickness. These supplements lack the micronutrients, fiber, e.t.c. beneficial elements which are present only in fresh food.Considering the importance of good nutrition at this age, it is important that teenagers should be encouraged to take a balanced nutritious diet. Their diet should include plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains and cereals, milk and meat products. For a bite in between meals, they can be given snacks made of any of these substances. There should be rationing of instant and processed foods and also soft beverages. Alcohol and other abusive substances should be prohibited.Health adolescents will grow into healthy adults who can contribute more to the society. Dr. Pande is a specialist internal medicine-Ruhengeri Hospital