Nutrition and the life cycle: nutrition and the school child

This is the third in this series of articles examining nutrition and the life cycle. The first considered current thinking regarding nutrition in pregnancy (Vol 9(17): 1133-8), and the second discussed nourishing the infant, particularly in relation to weaning (Vol 9(21): 2205-16). This article considers nutrition and the older child. The school years are characterized by increasing independence from parents and exposure to values from outside the home. After being neglected for some years, childhood nutrition is again giving cause for concern. Some children are not eating enough, or not the right nutrients at the right time, while others are becoming overweight, with possible severe long-term effects on their health. Many of these problems are not related to poverty, but rather to changes in lifestyle. Some older children, however, are undernourishing themselves in an attempt to obtain a particular body shape. The last two articles in this series will review nutrition in adulthood and in older years.