Nutritional Impacts - Pregnancy to Adulthood

People do not realize the impacts that food and nutrition have from the time we are in the womb all the way until we reach adulthood.  Below are the nutrition recommendations that begin with pregnancy and goes through a person's entire lifecycle up until late adulthood.  Every time we eat food, there is an impact to our life, but more importantly our length and quality of life.  It is important that we follow the recommendations below.

The nutrition recommendations and dietary guidelines for each of the following developmental stages are as follows:

Pregnancy:  No additional energy during a woman’s first trimester, 340 additional daily calories for the second trimester and an extra 430 calories a day for the third trimester.  The suggested way for a pregnant woman to earn those additional calories is by selecting more nutrient-dense foods from the five food groups.  It is important to choose foods with additional carbohydrates to feed the fetal brain and spare the protein needed for the fetus to grow.  Examples of other foods are whole-grain breads and cereals, dark green and other vegetables, legumes, and fruits that have phytochemicals and fiber.  In addition, the DRI recommends that a pregnant women intakes an additional 25% more in protein.  During the pregnancy phase both fetus and mother need a tremendous amount of nutrient yielding energy; therefore, there is little to no room for foods that are high in sugars and solid fats.

Infancy:  Since babies grow at an alarming rate during their first year of life and their metabolism rate is extremely high, it is important for their bodies to receive a plentiful amount of nutrients as well as vitamins and minerals to assist with the growth process.  Although infants have body sizes that are much smaller than adults, their bodies use a large amount of energy to accommodate their body’s changing processes; therefore, nutrients are measured by a percentage of their body weight.  Hence, infants require about 100 calories per kilogram of body weight per day.  The infants first year of life also requires stages of certain forms of nutrients such liquid nutrients to solid foods.

Childhood:  On average a 1 year old child needs about 800 calories a day, at age 6, the child needs an additional 800 calories per day and then by age 10 a child will need about 1800 calories per day to support normal growth.  These calorie needs can change if the child is sedentary and or active.  If active, the child will need more calories.

Adolescence:   The energy needs of adolescents vary tremendously due to the fact that it depends on the person’s gender, rate of growth, body composition and physical activity.  Today, many adolescents are very sedentary which has added to the number of obese individuals.  “U.S. children and adolescents 6 to 19 are overweight.”(Sizer & Whitney, 2012).  However, if active, a growing boy of adolescent age would require 3500 calories or more and an inactive adolescent girl would require 1800 calories.  It is the adolescent years where eating unhealthy foods can occur the most and we as parents need to guide and assist with the types of foods our young adults are consuming.

 Adults:  Here again the energy needs change and can vary based on physical activity, genetic history and genetics.  In some cases energy needs decrease with age as the body’s organs and cells change along with the physical activity.  We know on average the daily amount of energy consumption for middle age adults is 3067 calories for males and 2400 calories for females, but when a person reaches the age of 50 the intake recommendation is that energy consumption should be reduced by 5% every 10 years.  We see nutrition fast becoming a societal concern as many individuals are recognizing the effects both good and bad between our food choices and are wellbeing.    Awareness and understanding nutrition empowers individuals to conquer and solve the puzzle of the fight between man and diet.  This thought is supported by a health and wellness article where it was stated that “it has never been more important for higher education to engage employees and students in creating a culture that promotes health, wellness, and personal accountability.  (Shalala, D. 2010).  The way we can develop healthy eating habits is by understanding the impacts that foods have on our bodies from the pregnancy all the way until we reach our 50 plus years.  Once we know that, we then can focus on eating the right foods, doing the right things such as exercising and eating together as a family.  As parents both my husband and I realize that our children model our behavior so it is up to us to set the examples and habits that they will take on for the rest of their lives.  The consequences for not eating healthy are that we will see more chronic diseases, an unhappier life, and more importantly a shorter one.

 Shalala, D.. (2010, October). Prescription for Change: Health, Wellness, and Higher

            Education. The Presidency, 13(3), 18-23.  Retrieved February 10, 2013, from

            ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2181002061).

Sizer, F.S. & Whitney, E. (2012). Nutrition concepts and controversies. (12th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning