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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

Janeth Herrera
Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature
RWS 1302
University of Texas at El Paso

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

Abstract
Childhood nutrition has become more involved in many topics in different discourse
communities. There are many problems regarding this issue, from health to economic issues that
are growing so much that is now being treated. Doctors, schools, society and politics are being a
greater influence in the childhood nutrition problems that have been in the past and are
recognizing it by helping out. Even though the help that is provided is not always helpful,
sometimes this help can be harmful not necessarily for children but for the people that are
involved in helping out. There are many things that have to be done first in order to be able for
the help that is being provided by professionals to workout. While there are many things that
have to be done for childhood nutrition to be better in the near future, there will always be
negative effects, but it can work out if the steps are followed accordingly.

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

Introduction
Childhood nutrition has become a problem involving different people with different aspects,
from parents, doctors, and schools, to child nutrition issues in politics. Everybody has become an
influence in helping out, in resolving childhood nutrition problems considering the positive and
negative sides of the outcome.

How can doctors get more involved in the nutrition of the children so they do not have to

get sick often?

How can schools enhance the health of students and their nutritional education?
How can society help the families who live in poverty and cannot afford nutritional

meals?
How can politics influence policies that will help poor families?

By asking these questions one will get knowledge from different aspects on how childhood
nutrition can be solved without leaving the negative effects aside.
This childhood nutrition review of literature will show the positive and negative impact doctors,
schools, society and politics can have in the nutrition of children.
How can doctors get more involved in the nutrition of children so they do not have to get
sick often?
There are many ways doctors can participate in the lives of children and provide helpful
tips to prevent diseases in children. According to a research conducted by Childrens Health
watch (2014), kids are lacking proper nutrition, and at least 90% of children have poor health.
When children have poor health they are more likely to have health problems when they grow up
to be adults.

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

Doctors are usually the first to notice when something is wrong with the health of
children involving their nutritional habits and can give advice to parents on how to help their
children. For example, doctors can give tips on how many calories children should take in order
to have a healthy diet but in some cases it is the parents job to be able to monitor how many
calories their children are taking because if there is more calories that are taken these will be
stored as fat according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (2015). This is both a
positive and negative thing because even though it is good that doctors are concerned enough to
provide helpful tips to help out children who lack the adequate nutrition, it is also the job of
parents to follow these tips accordingly in order to have the right outcome and have healthy
children.
How can schools enhance the health of students and their nutritional education?
Schools are often a second home for children, they eat they learn and spend most of their
day in school. School is one of the most important and efficient ways where kids can enhance
their health as well as their education on nutrition. There are many ways schools get involved in
the nutritional life of children. According to School Food Plan (2013) schools concentrate on
the things children care about: good food, attractive environment, social life, price, and brand.
Schools have a whole-school approach that involves treating the dining room as a part of the
school day, where everybody gathers together and children can be together with other children
and interact with one another. By doing this, children are attracted to the way the school works
with them in a fun way where children can cooperate and are more likely to enhance their
nutritional lifestyle. According to Jensen (2014), Recent studies show that skipping breakfast is
relatively common amongst children in the U.S and other industrialized nations and is associated
with quantifiable negative consequences for academic cognitive health and mental health

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

functioning. This is something very important because if schools are providing the help
necessary for parents and children, parents need to take advantage and take their kids to school
early in the mornings in order to have a healthy meal before going to class. This is not only in
advantage for the children but also for the parents as well, this is because if parents have low
income they can always benefit from not having to worry about giving their children breakfast in
the morning as well as not having to spend their money.
How can society help the families who live in poverty and cannot afford nutritional
meals?
Society also plays a very important role in the nutritional life of children, and can also be
very beneficial for the families who need the help to provide for their families. There are many
ways to give to those in need, there are many food banks in America, according to Feeding
America (2015), food banks provide 3.3 billion meals, feeds more than 46 million people, and
prevents 2.5 billion pounds of good food going to waste. Food banks is not the only way that
society can help. Food drives are also a great way of giving, in society many people are willing
to help those families who cannot provide for their families, but many of these people that are
willing to help do not know how. Food drives give the opportunity for people to help and it is
very simple, having a food drive raises hunger awareness and also raises the funds to support
Feeding America as well as local places where food is needed to provide for those families who
are in need.

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

How can politics influence policies that will help poor families?
Politics are a great help to help implement policies regarding childhood nutrition. Policies
have been implemented to reduce childhood obesity, and with that applying nutrition policies to
reduce consumption of high-energy-dense foods Centers for disease control and prevention.
Policies can be enforced, in places such as schools so that childhood nutrition can be good and
also have great outcomes.

Conclusion
Childhood nutrition is an issue that everybody can contribute in and help in order to stop
other issues from spreading, like diseases, and economic problems in between others. There is
many different ways of help that can be provided for this issue. Like many things there is both
positive and negative sides but in the end many of the help that is provided goes to people who
need it the most. Even though there can be negative sides on helping others, there is always a
positive outcome, and in the United States the future is always important for everybody, so
regardless of the negative effects of helping others in issues of childhood nutrition there will only
be progression regarding this issue.

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Running Head: Childhood Nutrition Review of Literature

References
(N/A)Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) www.cdc.gov
(N/A)Feeding America (2014) www.nokidhungry.org
(N/A)Feeding America (2015) www.Feedingamerica.org
Jensen, Heather (2014) Nova Sciene Publishers pg. 3
(N/A)School Food Plan (2013) www.schoolfoodpln.com
(2015) www.Familydoctor.org