[Healthy nutrition in childhood and adolescence]

Nutrient requirements for youngsters are less known exactly than is commonly assumed. Anyway, it is possible to estimate the food consumption by healthy children on the basis of inquiries, so that present trends and problems can be assessed. Lower energy requirements call for a high relative density of nutrients in the food. The intake of these valuable, fibre-rich basic foods from whole grain however, is insufficient, whereas too much saccharose is consumed via beverages and processed milk products. Lower intake of milk leads to lower intake of calcium (the importance of calcium for reducing the incidence of fractures in advanced age is, like many other factors, still controversial). German children do not drink enough, as shown by high urine osmolalities. From all these trends, an optimised mixed food regimen can be recommended. This is described in detail. Nevertheless, intake of zinc, iodine and folic acid remains difficult. More than half of German children have enlarged thyroid glands, as sonography shows. Not so much contaminated food, but our excessive food habits due to abundance are the cause of food-induced diseases. Better toxicological methods and perspectives for a "healthy" environment and, thereby, food, are mandatory.