Nutrition in childhood & adolescence

Children, depending on their age, physical activity and rate of growth, have different nutritional requirements, with the two sexes having similar needs up to the age of 10. A correct, balanced diet can give them the essential nutrients as well as the energy they need for maximum mental performance and play.

Adolescence is a transitional period from childhood to adult life. Assertions of autonomy and independence are an inseparable part of it. Many adolescents use food and their eating habits as a Trojan horse to achieve their aim. It is also the period of a person’s life in which they are most vulnerable to the wrong role models that may be put before them, since body image plays a very important part in an adolescent’s eating behaviour and psychology. At the same time, it is the period in which the growth and maturation of the body is completed, resulting in rapid and intense changes in the adolescent’s body. A correct, balanced diet will give the adolescent all the essential components they need for proper growth, for increased mental performance and for the energy they need for everyday life.