Nutritional Assessment in children
Knowing your child is getting everything they need from their diet is very reassuring, but it’s also vital to know when there are any problems too. You can find out for sure with a nutritional evaluation at Caring Pediatrics. Our providers can identify any deficiencies in your child’s diet and help them with issues like weight management. Call Pediatrics Healthcare Associates today to schedule a consultation.
What is a nutritional evaluation?
Nutritional evaluation is a way to check whether your child is getting all the nutrients they need to develop correctly and stay healthy. Children need to be receiving the right proportions of the main food groups like protein, fiber, and healthy fats to grow strong without becoming overweight.
They also need to be getting the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Micronutrient deficiency can affect your child in multiple ways and could have a lifelong impact on their physical and intellectual development.
Your provider at Caring Pediatrics can check your child’s current micronutrient levels with a simple blood test. They can also look at your child’s development for their age and their general health and well-being.
What does the nutritional evaluation show?
Your child’s nutritional evaluation can detect the common problems children sometimes have with their diets, such as anemia (iron deficiency), chronic constipation, and feeding problems.
It can also look at the needs of children who have other health conditions, like metabolic disorders, cystic fibrosis, and diabetes. Conditions like these require very specific nutrition to optimize your child’s health.
One of the main uses of the nutritional evaluation is to assess your child’s weight and see whether there are any concerns that their diet could be too high in calories.
What happens if my child is eating too many calories?
If your child is eating more calories than they need every day, they start to gain weight. Children need calories to fuel their rapid growth, but if they’re getting more than they need, obesity could become a serious health problem.
Being overweight or obese is a rapidly increasing problem in children across the United States. More children are developing type 2 diabetes and other conditions that normally affect older adults, like high blood pressure, heart disease, and certain types of cancer. They may also develop sleep apnea and joint pain.
Obesity can also make life hard for children so they don’t get on as well at school and might have low self-esteem. Your provider can help by creating a comprehensive plan to tackle their obesity.
How does my child benefit from a nutritional evaluation?
A nutritional evaluation can determine what aspects of your child’s diet are currently healthy, and any areas where there’s room for improvement. Your provider can advise you on exactly how to make changes to ensure optimal nutrition.
They can also find out whether your child has any problems absorbing certain micronutrients, which could mean they have an underlying condition that needs treating.
If your child is overweight or obese, your provider can help with a weight management plan that provides more than a diet and exercise program. Children need support and education as well to overcome the causes of their weight problems.
Call Caring Pediatrics today to arrange a nutritional evaluation for your child.
