Meal Planning for the Infant and Preschooler|ICDS Supervisor Kerala Study Materials
Meal Planning for the Infant
Who is an Infant?
The child in the first year is referred to as an infant.
The first year of life is a period of intense growth and development. Growth, refers to the physical increase in the size of the body.
The infant at birth weighs approximately 2.5-3 kg and measures 50 cm in length.
With the rapid growth taking place the infant doubles its birth weight in five months and by one year the weight is three times the birth weight.
Consider the rate of growth!.Starting from 3 kg the weight increases to 9 kg in a single year. At no other time of life hereafter the rate of growth would be so rapid.
The normal body length of 50 cm at birth also increases to about 75 cm by the end of the first year.
Gain in weight/increase in length
are, therefore, thebest indicators to assess the child’s growth.
Weighing the child every month,
for the first year would give you a good idea of the pattern of growth.
The gain in height/weight are
further accompanied bychanges in tissues/organs/systems of the body during the first
year.
The muscles grow in size and
strength. The bones lengthen. The brain, kidneys, digestive system improve in their
functional capacity.
In other words, the body
undergoes a process of development.
The development of the digestive system,
for example, enables the infant to handle more and more complex food items
starting from breast milk at birth to solid food by the end of the first year.
The rapid growth and development of an infant creates a high demand for nutrients.
But, what nutrients are of particular importance during infancy? How much of which nutrient should be given to the infant?
We shall learn about these aspects in the next subsequent section.
RECOMMENDED DIETARY INTAKES FOR THE INFANTS
In Table given below you would notice that the RDIs for Infants are given in two age categories—0-6 months and6-12 months.
This is so because the age of the infant influence nutrient need.
Rapid growth takes place during the first six months, which obviously necessitates a high nutrient intake.
The recommended intakes for infants during the firstsix months are based on the intake of normal growing infants fed on breast milk alone.
This means that if an infant receives on an average 850 ml of breast milk dailyupto six months, his requirements as given in Table are easily met.
Table: Recommended Dietary Intakes for an Infant
The requirement given above are, therefore, basically guidelines for feeding infants who, for some reason, cannot receive breast milk.
Recommended Dietary Intakes for an Infant The RDIs for a few nutrients—energy, protein, iron and vitamins—are given in terms of per kg body weight and not as a total intake figure.
Nutrient needs of Infants as Compared to those of an Adult Man
This is because the needs for these nutrients per kg body weight are substantially different within the specific age category.
The total amount of the nutrients required by the infant may seem much smaller as compared to the adult but when expressed in terms of per kg body weight, the need is over twice as much for most nutrients as can be seen in Figure below .
The RDI for protein and certain protective nutrients like calcium, iron, vitamin C and vitamin A are also high.
The tissue growth and body-building activity is considerable during the first year. This necessitates a high intake of protein and vitamin A.
The bones and skeletal system develop rapidly and calcium is deposited in them, hence the requirement for calcium is high.
The blood volume increases and therefore, iron is required for the synthesis of haemoglobin in the blood cells.
MEAL PLANNING FOR THE INFANT
It is clear that the nutrient requirement is considerably high during infancy.
The crucial aspect to consider then is how to meet these requirements.
What are the foods that should be given to the infant that would help meet the requirement?
The first food normally given to the infant is breastmilk.
Breast milk supplies all the nutrients needed by the baby for the first few months.
It is the best food for the baby.
supplementary feeding.
But after four to six months, breast milk alone is not sufficient to meet the growing needs of the infant.
Certain other foods need to be provided along with breast milk so as to supplement the shortfall in the nutrients.
This process of introducing foods other than breast milk in the diet of the infant is called supplementary feeding.
It is also referred to as wearing.
Supplementary feeding is a gradual process which beg ins from the mom end other foods (liquid food preparations and solid food preparations) are started and continues till the time the child is completely taken off the breast.
Any food other than breast milk given to
the infants referred to as a supplement or supplementary food.
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