Infant and Child Nutriton
- Teenagers who become mothers are at high risk of bone loss. The needs of the fetus compromises bone growth in the adolescent mother. One-third of 13 to 18 year-olds living in Baltimore who became mothers had bones that were considered osteoporotic shortly after their pregnancy.
- Compared to 20 years ago, soft drink consumption has jumped 21 percent in two- to five-year-olds, and 37 percent among six- to nine-year-olds.
- Children who are exclusively breast-fed early in life may have a decreased susceptibility to asthma. The immunological properties of human milk help to decrease one's risk of asthma.
- Children and adolescents who do not consistently have an adequate food intake are more inclined to have lower math scores, repeat a grade, be more troublesome, and need counseling. Nutritional status appears to be related to academic and psychological outcomes.
- Several studies suggest that children and teenagers who eat their meals with their family have better eating patterns and a better quality of diet than those who eat by themselves.
- Children who were not breast-fed in their first 4 months of life were found to be 25 percent more likely to have an allergy than children who were breast-fed, and children who went to daycare before the age of 3 months had higher rates of asthma.
- The most recent data shows a drastic increase in the amount of soft drinks consumed by US children and adolescents along with a decrease in milk and fruit juice consumption. Those children with a high consumption of carbonated beverages were more likely to consume less than 8 oz. of milk per day and less than 4 oz. of juice per day. A high intake of soft drinks was associated with an excessive energy intake possibly leading to childhood obesity.
