5^th European Food Chemistry Congress

Paediatric Nutrition

Pediatric Nutrition is the maintenance of a proper well-balanced diet consisting of the essential nutrients and the adequate caloric intake necessary to promote growth and sustain the physiological requirements at the various stages of a child's development. Nutritional needs vary considerably with age, level of activity, and environmental conditions and they are directly related to the rate of growth. In the prenatal period growth totally depends on adequate maternal nutrition. During infancy the need for calories, especially in the form of protein, is greater than at any postnatal period because of the rapid increase in both height and weight.