Answer

• Adolescent Nutrition

  Description of the Chosen Life Cycle

  The human body undergoes constant development and changes throughout its life cycle. Nutrition plays a crucial role in human body development by providing fuel to facilitate growth. This essay focuses on the adolescent life cycle, describing its nutritional challenges and developing a diet plan specifically tailored for the group. As suggested in the paper, an adolescent diet should incorporate high amounts of whole grains, proteins, vegetables, and fruits to facilitate proper growth and development.

  Adolescence is described as a provisional phase from childhood to adulthood, featuring growth spurt and drastic changes in the body’s nutritional needs. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), an adolescent is any individual aged between 10 and 19. This age is closely equated to puberty between the ages of 8 and 13 in girls while 9 and 14 in boys. Puberty is characterized by rapid psychological, emotional, and physical changes overlaying in reproduction, which impose lifestyle changes amounting to variations in eating habits and food choices. Thus, adolescent nutrition is crucial in promoting physical growth and preventing future health hitches.

  Nutritional Challenges

  Rapid growth and development, along with social factors, make adolescence susceptible to several nutritional concerns. According to Anabwani (2015), adolescent nutrition’s rising problems are attributed to two key aspects. Adolescents represent a significant number in the global demographics, constituting approximately 20 percent of the world population. Second, the adolescent stage presents an opportunity to rectify nutritional practices and refining individuals’ nutritional status. A common dietary challenge associated with adolescence is unhealthy eating habits that may amount to irregular eating patterns, meal skipping, and snacking on low nutrient items.

  The WHO fact sheet on adolescent dietary habits reports a decrease in healthy eating among adolescents, featuring reduced breakfast consumption, low consumption of fruits and vegetables, and an increase in soft-drink consumption (World Health Organization, 2016). Obesity prevalence is another nutritional concern among teenagers. Ruiz et al. (2020) reveal that the highest prevalence in childhood obesity was among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years at 20.6 percent, with youths aged 6-11 years closely behind at 18.4%. Unnecessary dieting among adolescents is also common, especially girls who are vulnerable to self-esteem issues. Such poor dieting activities increase the risks of eating disorders in the forms of bulimia nervosa and anorexia Nervosa (Anabwani, 2015). These eating disorders accelerate nutritional problems such as stunted growth and delayed puberty.

  Diet Plan

  Basing on the nutritional needs of the adolescent, a diet plan would be as follows:

  Food group	Daily amount in females (12-18 years)	Daily amounts in males(12-18 years)
  Grains (1ounce=1 slice of bread	6 ounces	7-10 ounces
  Fruits (1 cup=1 cup of fresh juice	2 cups	2 cups
  Vegetables (1cup=1 cup of raw or cooked vegetables	2-5cups	3-4cups
  Milk (1cup=8 ounces of yogurt)	3 cups	3 cups
  Proteins (I ounce=I egg, a half-ounce of nuts, or I ounce of fish)	5-6 ounces	6-7ounces
  Fats	2200-2650 calories	2800-4250 calories

   

  Rationale

  The adolescence stage involves an increase in growth and development, which demands a high-calorie intake ranging between 2200-2500 calories a day (Das et al., 2017).  Calorie intake should be regulated to prevent obesity, best done by avoiding high sugar or fat foods such as fast foods. The macronutrients needed by teenagers include carbohydrates, proteins, and fats that provide energy for growth and muscle development. Regardless of the significant benefits of minerals and vitamins, adolescents do not get enough. A crucial mineral is iron, which essential for carrying out red blood cells, and calcium to strengthen bones. Vitamins such as vitamin E and vitamin A are also necessary for boosting the immune system and skincare. Fiber, which is present in whole grains, aids in constipation and is associated with ease of heart disease. Overall, the adolescent diet should incorporate high amounts of whole grains, proteins, vegetables, and fruits to facilitate proper growth and development.