Recommended Dietary Intakes for the School Child

We have so far noted several characteristics of the school years. Some of the features which would obviously influence nutrient needs are: 

1. Differences in rate of growth between boys and girls 
2. Differences in body composition of boys and girls 
3. Growth and development of muscles, expansion of bload volume and increase in size of various body organs 
4. Considerable mineralization of bones and formation of permanent teeth 

Which nutrient requirements do you think would be influenced? Let us consider each of the above characteristics one by one. 

1. Differences in rate of growth would influence both energy and protein needs: You are familiar with the fact that protein is needed to support growth.  You also know that protein in the diet will be properly utilized only if it also provides enough energy. In other words both protein and energy needs would be influenced by the rate of growth. The needs for several other nutrients also change. 
2. Differences in body composition would influence energy needs in particular: Body composition influences  energy needs. We mentioned that boys have more muscle tissue and less adipose tissue compared to girls. Since muscle tissue is more active metabolically speaking, it requires more energy to sustain its activity. This means that more muscle tissue in the body would mean more energy needs. 
3. Expanasion of blood volume pushes up iron needs: Blood volume increases keeping pace with the growth of the rest of the body. As blood volume increases, the number of blood cells also goes up and therefore the amount of haemoglobin required also increases. You know, of course, that haemoglobin is an iron-containing compound. 
4. Mineralization of bones and formation of teeth influence calcium needs: As the skeleton grows, more calcium is constantly deposited so as to add strength and rigidity to the bones. Similarly, calcium is also being deposited in the permanent teeth. This is why a liberal intake of calcium becomes necessary. 

Now that we have understoad some of the important factors influencing nutrient needs, let us study Table. The table summarizes the recommended dietary intakes for school children. 

If you look at the table carefully, you would notice that the age if the child influences requirements. There is an increase in the RDIs for energy, protein, calcium, thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2) and niacin as age increases. The RDIs for vitamin C, folic acid, vitamin B12 ,  and vitamin A remain unchanged from the age of 7 to the age of 12. The influence of sex becomes evident after the age of10 years. This is the reason why RDIs are specified separately for boys and girls in the 10-12 years category. The RDI for iron is a case in point. 

 Recommended  Dietary Intakes for School children 

Highlight 5 gives you a part of the story. A full discussion would be too technical and therefore is beyond the scope of  this unit. 

You may also have noticed that by the age of 10-12 years, the child requires almost as much protein as the adult and more energy than the adult woman. Calcium and iron requirements are also considerable. This supports the conclusions we reached earlier in this discussion.