Lifespan Nutrition - Research Paper Example

LIFESPAN NUTRITION Author’s Name Course Instructor Institution City Date of Submission Lifespan Nutrition The study involved the assessment of the participants. Although it is an excellent methodology/ technique, it is a limiting factor to an acquisition of the right data from the stakeholders. For instance, the responses of the children who are between two and three years vary significantly from the responses of the children between 4 and eight years. Additionally, the responses from the children between 9 and 13 years vary from the response of children who are fourteen years and above. The intelligence of children varies with age, and the accuracy of the answers also differs with age. Survey data from children is likely to be biased and hence inaccurate for the study. The data was collected using the nutrition survey method. The data about the calcium intake of children was drawn from the statistics of the Australian Bureaus of statistics. The results may not be the actual results of the calcium intake among the children in Australia in the different age groups. The survey method used is vulnerable to several disadvantages which make it inefficient for the study due to exclusion of various factors (Blossner 2003, p. 518). The study may hence be estimated, and thereby, the data will be misleading since it may not be the representation of the population of the children of their ages. The scientific methods should be employed in the collection of data to ensure that there is evidence of the data which is collected. There are various factors which affect the absorption of calcium in the human body, and more importantly, there are factors which influence the absorption of calcium in the body. The clinical testing alone can hence not be depended upon the collection of data on the calcium intake among children. For instance, the absorption of calcium is subject to age and becomes inefficient as the child becomes old. Additionally, even if calcium is found in many foods, there are foods which increase the absorption while other foods reduce the absorption of calcium in the body (Rangan 2008, 356). The study should hence be inclusive of all these factors, and therefore the survey alone is not efficient. For instance, the dietary experts advise people to take food which is rich in fiber; foods with fiber contain phytic acid, which influences the absorption of calcium to a great extent. There is also the inadequacy of standardized data which can be compared to the assessment of health status of children and more importantly the calcium intake in children and adolescents. The healthcare processes should always be included in the datasets to include all the factors which influence the deficiency or excessive calcium in the body of children. Table: Mean intake of calcium by age group and gender (mg/day) Age EAR RDI All 1-2 yr 360 mg/day 500gm/day 4-8 yr 520 mg/day 700gm/day Boys 9-11 yr 800gm/day 1000gm/day 12-13 yr 1050gm/day 1300gm/day 14-18 yr 1050gm/day 1300gm/day Girls 9-11 yr 800gm/day 1000gm/day 12-13 yr 1050gm/day 1300gm/day 14-18 yr 1050gm/day 1300gm/day Table: Mean intake of calcium by age and gender (mg/day) 2-3 years 4-8 years 9-13 years 14-18 years Boys 775.0 805.1 900.1 924.6 Girls 768.3 675.8 805.7 740.7 Total Children 771.8 742.6 853.4 833.4 The data above shows that the average intake of calcium among the male children between 2 and three years is 775.0 milligrams in a day while the female children of the same age have an average of 768.3 milligrams per day. The study indicates that the mean calcium intake of both male and female children who are between two and three years is 771.8 milligrams in a day. The children who are between four and eight years have a different mean in the calcium intake compared to the others. The female children between 4 and eight years have and the average of 805.1 milligrams of calcium in a day. The average intake of calcium of both male and female children, according to the data above is 742.6mm/day. The girls of 4-8 years have an average intake of 675.8 milligrams of calcium per day. Between 9 and 13 years the calcium intake in children increases as the average intake of the boys per day is 900.1 mm while that of the girls is 805.7 mm. The average intake of both boys and girls between the age of 9 and 13 is 853.4 mm of calcium on a daily basis. The average intake of calcium per day by the girls who are between 14 and 18 years is 740.7mm/day; on the other hand, the average intake of calcium among the boys of the same age in Australia is 924.6 milligrams in a day. The total mean of calcium intake of both girls and the boys who are between 14 years and eighteen years is 833.4 milligrams of calcium in a day The children who are between the age of one year and three years in Australia have an average daily intake of calcium which is above the EAR and RDI. The EAR is 360 milligrams of calcium per day and the RDI of children between the age of 1 and three years are 500milligrams per day. The mean intake of the calcium in children between one and three years in Australia is 771.8 milligrams per day. The children between the age of four and eight years in Australia are also way above the EAR and RDI calcium intakes per day. The EAR is 520 milligrams in a day while the RDI is 700 milligrams of calcium in a day. According to the data which was collected through health survey in Australia, the mean calcium intake of 742.6 milligrams in a day. The boys who are between the age of 9 and thirteen years also attained the EAR but did not attain the RDI intake of calcium in milligrams per day. The EAR of the boys between 9 and 13 years is 800-1050mg/day. The boys in Australia were estimated to consume 900.1 milligrams of calcium on a daily basis which is in the EAR range. The boys did not attain the RDI intake of calcium as they did not reach the average, which ranges between 1000 and 1300 milligrams in a day. The girls on the other hand, neither attained the EAR, nor did they attain the RDI. The EAR of the girls between 9 and 13 years is 800-1050 milligrams of calcium in a day. The RDI on the other hand, for the same age group of girls is 1000-1300 milligrams of calcium in a day. According to the data from the health survey in Australia, the girls only attained a mean of 805.7 milligrams on a daily basis. The male and female teenagers between 14 and 18 years also failed to reach the EAR and RDA of calcium intake amongst themselves. The EAR of the boys and girls in that age is 1050 milligrams in a day; the RDI, on the other hand, is 1300 milligram in a day. The teenagers in Australia in the study had an average calcium intake of 833.4 milligrams with the girls having 740.4 mg/day and the boys having 924.6 milligrams of calcium in a day. According to the Australian Survey on the Usual Nutrient intakes, the results are different from the above data, For instance, in the data above, their children who are aged from 4 to eight years have a relatively higher mean of the calcium intake which indicates that the children are healthy. However, according to the Australian Health Survey, the study indicates that the children who are four years and above have the lowest intake of calcium and, therefore, the above results seem exaggerated. The results about the intake of calcium in Australia shows a quite a large deficiency of the mineral in the country. The results require verification through carrying out multiple tests for comparison and involving participants from different parts of the country. According to the health survey in Australia, the only group of children who receive an adequate intake of calcium per day is between 1 and three years with a mean intake of 771.8 milligrams per day. The requirements indicated by the NICHD-NIH about the average requirement of calcium in children per day shows that the toddlers in Australia are beyond the average of 700mg/day. The children between the age of four and eight years, on the other hand, require 1000 milligrams of calcium in a day. The children in Australia did not meet the average intake, according to the health survey. Additionally, the teenagers who are between fourteen and eighteen years in Australia also did not meet the daily requirement of the calcium intake according to the NICHD-NIH. There is a major difference between the average intakes of calcium in Australia compared to the United States of America. The difference is large, indicating that the methodologies adopted while collecting the health data in Australia have both weaknesses and limitations. For instance, the study in the United States includes different factors of individuals in different age groups to aid in the determination of the actual intake of calcium. Additionally, the calcium sources are also considered in the study, including the foods taken by the children as well as the calcium supplements. For example, The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in the United States of America carried out a study on the average daily intake of calcium. The organization found out that the male children who are older than one year have a mean intake of calcium between 871 and 1266mg/day. The results were according to the life stage of the study participants. The female who is above one year in the United States of America was reported to have an average calcium intake of between 478 and 968 milligrams in a day. The study further indicated that the EAR of the children fell as they grew old. The trend was observed in boys and girls who are between nine and fifteen years and also in children between the age of 14 and eighteen years (Ministry of Health 2001, p. 7). A nutritional study was carried out in Australia to assess the intake of calcium among children in 2009 by the Australian National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. According to the results, the children were observed not to meet the daily requirements in their calcium intakes. The results by NNPAS about the average intake of calcium in Australian children have similarities with earlier studies which indicated that the children do not consume calcium-rich foods (Ross 2011, p. 55). In brief, calcium intake in Australia like in other parts of the world is influenced by different factors. Age and gender are some of the factors which influence calcium intake in Australia. According to the NNPAS data, the female children have lower average compared to the boys of the same age group (Lanou 2005, p. 737). While assessing the calcium requirement and calcium intake in children, there is a need to include all factors of growth and calcium losses against the amount of calcium absorbed in the body of the children. References Read More