Situation
A child at your school brings lunches that have small portions, and not well balanced. Every day the parents send one ounce of dry tuna, four saltine crackers, and a bottle of water. The child is slightly overweight. What should be discussed with parents? How will you discuss the importance of healthy meals and snacks that meets young children’s nutritional needs?
Solution
First, to eliminate possible risks for the child’s health, I think it is necessary to have a careful conversation with the parents regarding diabetes. I would make sure to ask the parents if there is any connection to diabetes in the family and close relatives. If there is no connection to diabetes, I will try to raise parents’ awareness on the topics of children’s diet and how deficient diet at this moment could affect the child’s health in the future. Moreover, I would explain that lunches and snacks are essential for children as they produce a high amount of energy, so being overweight does not necessarily need interventions such as a strict diet.
Even highly appreciated due to its benefits for health, a vegan diet is not recommended to children as it does not provide enough nutrients required for the growing organism (Kalhoff et al., 2021). To raise the parents’ awareness on the topic of diet and nutrition for children, I would introduce them to the possible consequences of malnutrition and poor diet, which include the potential development of food allergies (Kalhoff et al., 2021). I would try to explain to the parents that by manipulating the child’s diet, they could harm his overall health and that drastic dietary changes such as this need to be controlled by health professionals. If the parents still have concerns regarding the child’s weight, I will suggest taking the child to a pediatrician first. Then, after making sure that his health is not at risk, I would suggest taking the child to a nutritionist. A nutritionist would compose a healthy diet for the child that would provide a healthy amount of nutrients and benefit the child’s health while effectively aiding in losing weight.
Reference
Kalhoff, H., Kersting, M., Lücke, L., & Lücke, T. (2021). Vegetarian diets in children—some thoughts on restricted diets and allergy. International Journal of Clinical Medicine, 12(2), 43-60. Web.