Produce a piece of writing to explain the impact of diet on children’s health and development.
A child’s diet is very important to encourage development and growth. Having an unbalanced diet can increase the risk of many health issues both in childhood and later life.
There are 5 main nutrients which each child need to consume to maximise a child’s development. These are:
• Carbohydrates
• Proteins
• Vitamins
• Minerals
• Fats
Each of these have very important roles within the body and not having enough of each of these nutrients can cause health issues.
Carbohydrates have 5 main functions. They provide energy for working muscles and the central nervous system, they enable fat metabolism and they stop protein being used as energy. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for muscles. If the body is deprived of carbohydrates, this can lead to different problems. Having a lack of carbohydrates can cause Hypoglycaemia (low …show more content…
There are many different types of vitamins and are essential to a child’s development. Some of these include vitamins A, the family of vitamin B’s (B2, B3, B6 and B12), vitamin C and vitamin D. Each vitamin has a different role. Vitamin A promotes normal growth and development. It also contributes towards tissue and bone repair, healthy skin, eyes and immune responses. Vitamin A can be found in milk, cheese, eggs and carrots. All of the vitamin B’s help metabolism, produces energy, and creates a healthy circulatory and nervous system. Sources of vitamins B is meat, fish, eggs, milk and cheese. Vitamin C contributes towards health skin, tissue and muscles Vitamin C can be found in fruits, and green vegetables. Finally, Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, and helps bone and tooth formation. The best source of vitamin D is sunlight, however it can be found in milk and other dairy