Nutrition (Essay Sample)

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Nutrition
A third of both children between 5 and 10 years old and adolescents do not take breakfast. Only 17% of adults do not take their breakfast. Reasons that were given for this was that mostly for older teens, were busy with their homework until late into the night, extracurricular activities at after school, some had part-time jobs. As they grow older they are more inclined to sleep late into the night too such that when they wake up in the following day, they are too tired or nauseated to eat breakfast.
RDA is also known as Recommended Daily Allowance. It is the selected essential nutrients intake that a normal healthy person is required to have to keep fit and safe. They are based on scientific knowledge which have been presented by the Food and Nutrition Board committee of the National Academy of Sciences (Danielsson 2011). For school-age children, a minimum of ¼ of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) is required. Breakfast was likely to include solid foods with a caloric beverage which meant that it provided 12% and 18% of RDAs for energy. This energy intake was higher among children than it is for adults. The breakfast also provided 8-15% of proteins which was just like energy more by the children than by adults. 57% of adults consume low-energy breakfasts but only 40% of children and adolescents do, while in the medium it is the children and adolescents who consume more than the adults. They take 49% while the adults take 34%. 9% of adults consume high-energy breakfasts as children and adolescents take up to 11%.
Vitamins are contributed differently as there are several vitamins; for vitamin B2 in children more than 50% of the RDA was given, more than 20% for vitamin B1, from 10-15% of vitamin A, B6 and C. mineral intakes for children was high with up to 45% for calcium and phosphorous, 33% magnesium and between 10-15% iron, zinc and copper. Breakfast categories was split into three; low-energy, medium energy and high-energy. Breakfast size diminished with increasing age generally (Morgan KJ, Zabik ME and Leveille AL 1981).
Reports written from researches carried out indicate that indeed breakfast, and specifically early breakfast did help children in learning. The brain after an all night sleep requires a fresh supply of blood sugar. People who do not have this type of breakfast have problems vision and spatial understanding. They do not remember anything. Having breakfast is important but the kind of breakfast taken also plays a vital role. The child’s blood sugar will hold steady when they are served with fewer served foods, and that the food has low index of Glycemic.
There are numerous benefits for children who eat breakfast; it provides energy and the essential nutrients they need to concentrate in school, thereby achieving higher scores, lower rates of absence and tardiness. Another important benefit for ...