Calcium vital for the growth of bones and teeth. A child's requirement will usually be met if milk and other dairy products are consumed daily as a regular part of the diet.
Vitamin A is needed for healthy skin and cell development and can often be lacking in diets within this age group.
Vitamin C is important for the immune system and growth, and its intake may be low in children who don't eat much fruit or vegetables.
Vitamin D is essential for the body's calcium metabolism and can be produced by the body when skin is exposed to sunlight. This can be a problem in winter if children are always covered up when outside.
Many children go through phases of refusing to eat certain foods or anything at all. This is particularly common for children up to the age of five, and is a normal part of growing up and asserting independence. However this can cause problems with children getting adequate nutrients needed for growth and developments and can also be a very stressful time for both child and parent. Children can easily before deficient in certain vitamins and minerals by not eating certain types of food.
A lot of research and advertising has been going on recently about child obesity being on the increase, allowing your child to simply over eat or eat the wrong things can easily lead to this. Poor education or low income on the parent’s part can contribute to this problem. If a parent is unaware about the potential damage that there are inflecting on their child because of lack of knowledge on a child’s nutritional needs this could influence their choice on food.
A parent or family on a low income could have their food choices influenced by simply by how much they can afford to spend on food which could result in them only buying foods which are processed or ready meals because they are cheaper and more convenient and not buying fruit and vegetables which may seem like a more expensive choice to them.
Adolescence food choices are often influenced by social pressure and media to achieve cultural ideals of thinness, gain peer acceptance, or assert independence from parental authority. These factors can increase adolescence’s risk for developing eating disorders. A teenager with an eating disorder diets, exercises, and/or eats excessively as a way of coping with the physical and emotional changes of adolescence. The three most common types of eating disorders are anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating.
During adolescence, teenager’s growth and development are rapid and the need for energy and some nutrients is high. Eating a well balanced diet can provide teens with all they need. Adolescence that may take part in sport or other activities may be more aware of this, influencing there food choices to help them perform better when competing. Over eating and not regularly taking part in exercise can lead to teens becoming over weight. Teens spend more time playing computer games, watching TV or socializing with friends which contribute to them becoming over weight. This plays a major part in adolescence food choices, TV advertisements or what their friends are choosing to eat influences them in their food choices. When teens are spending more time watching TV or playing computer games they are more likely to choice unhealthy foods, foods which are quick and convenient to eat that don’t need make much effect to cook or eat.
Parental income and poor understanding of nutritional goodness can also have an effect on adolescences’ diet too. Many professionals believe that if you introduce healthy food choices to young children that they will continue to eat this way throughout their lives but parents also have to be educated on nutritional health and wellbeing. If there is only unhealthy food available at home this all adolescence will eat and it is all they will buy when outside of the home too. If both parent and adolescent are not aware of the impact of their food choices they are not going to change it for the better.
Religion plays a part in an adolescence food choice too, in certain religions some foods are forbidden for them to eat and they are more aware of the reprocessions of them eating these foods.
Pregnant women not only have their own nutrition to worry about but also the nutrition of their unborn child to consider also. During pregnancy their need to make sure that your diet is providing them with enough energy and nutrients for the baby to grow and develop, and for their bodies to deal with the changes taking place.
Pregnant women are always advised to eat a well balanced diet and to include the following:
Vitamin D 10mcg each day. Especially in winter months to prevent their child suffering from rickets. Women that are Asian origin who cover their skin when outside could be particularly short of vitamin D.
Folic acid 400mcg each day from conception until the 12th week of pregnancy. Folic acid has been shown to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida.
Iron Pregnant women can become deficient in iron, so they should make sure they have plenty of iron-rich foods. This is important to carry the oxygen around the body and to the unborn baby.
Pregnant women also have to avoid certain foods because they can harm their unborn baby such foods as pate, raw meats and some canned fish.
Nearly all pregnant women worry about weight gain when their pregnant and not losing it after pregnancy. This is due mainly to media pressure about yummy mummies and celebrities that lose their weight within weeks of having their babies. What a lot of women don’t seem to realize is that all these women people to help them with this, either by looking after their baby or training them to lose the weight. Starving themselves of all the nutrients their bodies need to repair it self after such exhausting time.
Not all pregnant women have the money to ensure they can eat a healthy diet. Women on low income or benefits are possible more unlikely to be able to eat a more nutritional diet to ensure her and her unborn child are receiving the right nutrients, whereas a pregnant woman on a better income can ensure she’s eating the best for herself and her unborn child but this isn’t always the case. But does influence their choice of food intake.
Again religion and culture play a role in a pregnant woman’s food choice, it doesn’t necessarily mean she has to change from what she already eats but may mean she may wish or be advised to cut out foods which are spicy, rich or fried to ease her pregnancy. Foods which are heavily spiced or fried may give the woman heartburn, a common illness in pregnancy or possible sickness which could result in her not obtaining all the nutrients from food she is eating.
Energy requirements continue to fall with advancing age. This is due to a decrease in lean body tissue (muscle), leading to a fall in basic metabolic rate older people also tend to be less active. This means older adults need smaller meals influencing them in what they eat a buy.
It is important that older people continue to enjoy their food and that they keep active in order to maintain a good appetite, maintain mobility and prevent obesity. In the UK, dietary recommendations for fat, fibre and carbohydrate are the same for older people as for the rest of population.
Vitamin D is specific recommendations for the elderly for calcium absorption which is mainly obtained from the action of sunlight on the skin. People who are housebound or live in institutions may be at risk of deficiency. It is recommended that everyone over the age of 65 takes a supplement of vitamin D, and dietary sources such as oily fish and margarine (which is fortified with vitamin D) should be eaten regularly.
Ill health and medical conditions influence the elderly to change their diets,
to help control illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease or conditions such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis which are more common in old age.
The media might influence them to increase their intake of antioxidants to benefit eye health. There is some evidence to suggest that oxidative damage may be involved in the formation and progression of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, two conditions that can lead to loss of vision. There appears to be a link between these condition and antioxidant nutrients with the highest risk of cataract occurring among those with low intakes of antioxidants. This shows that all age groups are influenced by the media and not just young people are, which a lot of people believe.
Poor dentition would lead to a more restricted diet for older adults because of the inability to chew, meaning they may lose out on certain vitamins contained in harder foods such as carrots, apples, nuts etc.
Mobility and physical activity can also influence older adults dietary habits for example someone with arthritis could possible have difficulty shopping for their own food or even preparing and cooking for themselves.
Poverty is defiantly a big factor influencing older adult’s diet choices. With the rise in living costs, the elderly simply have to cut back on every day things and to them eating three meals daily or one,possible two and being warm at night, isn’t a hard choice for them to make.
Many are unaware of the benefits of a balanced healthy diet. Of the nutritional goodness they can receive from eating different kinds of foods. A lot of the elderly are very scared of change and are very stuck in their ways which means that they losing out on all the delicious new foods which are being introduced to Britain, as a result don’t benefit from a varied diet. This mainly due to education of the elderly, they simply have not been made aware.
From all the factors that influence older adulthood I believe that medical issues are the most important factor that affects them when making food choices. There are so many medical conditions that can make their decisions for them. Things that younger people possible take for granted such as dental issues. This can be for a number of reasons such as:
- Poor access to dentistry services
- Lack of mobile dentists to service housebound or residents in homes
- Pain
- As people get older they stop producing so much saliva and that means the decay process is quicker
- More susceptible to oral disease
- Finance
- Ill-fitting dentures
But it isn’t just dental issues that effect them, whether their housebound or in care homes because of illness plays a major parts as well. If their relaying on some one else to prepare and cook food for them, their choice of food shouldn’t be could be removed from them. There is always a reason for someone to be housebound or in a care home and it usually is because they are ill which again influences what they can eat. They may be unable to eat solid food which could result in them become deficient in certain nutrients but could be overcome by receiving special fluids that are fortified with every nutrition they need.
Many different medical conditions all most defiantly influence the older adulthood population when making food choices for themselves.
I believe media is the least important factor that influences older adults when making food choices. Many older adult are not sold on fancy advertising and influenced into buying ‘miracle cures’ to improve medical conditions or ease their living. Many use tried and tested old fashion ways to improve their health. Generations before them handed down remedies to cure different illness by using simply herbs. Most just don’t believe what they read in newspapers or see on TV as being true and beneficial.
Whereas most adolescence believe everything they read and see. Companies are very clever when researching their products and know how to advertise to their audience to impact on their sales. If an adolescence is told it’s the ‘new wonder drug’ they simply believe what their being told and so go out and spend their money. It isn’t just companies selling items that influence them it’s celebrities that influence them too, which is driven by the media. The media influences how they think and behave and as they grow older the influence becomes more powerful. It influences adolescence desires making them think that they need certain items to be popular or cool.
Life on many television shows and movies is far from normal. They often glamorize potentially destructive behaviors like drinking, drugs, affairs, and intimate teen relationships.
Female adolescence are more likely to be influenced by the media in food choices. Beauty plays a major role in their everyday life. This is encouraged by the media constantly bombarding them with messages of how we can beautify or modify our appearance, to fit the standard being portrayed through the media. The images seen are those of flawlessly slim females altered with techniques in order to create a perfect image. Adolescent girls struggle with the concept of the ideal body image and this can affect their self esteem, their relationship with family and friends and their health.
I think possible religion is the least important factor that influences an adolescent’s food choice. If a child from an early age is told that they are not allowed a certain type of food and told the real importance of these, it should stay with the child for the rest of their life, they will know what they can eat and where they can receive or buy this type of food. It is then up to the child if they wish to follow the rules of their religion, most will follow in their families beliefs but a small percent will rebel against it for their own reasons. This will effect all aspects of their religion and is something only them personal can choice to make, whether they choice to tell their families is also up to them.
