Bright Futures Nutrition Guidelines Released

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Emphasizing prevention and early recognition of nutritional concerns, Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition provides guidelines for healthy eating from infancy through adolescence. The guide includes strategies and tools to help health professionals incorporate nutrition information and counseling into their primary care services and build partnerships in nutrition with families and communities. Special issue chapters present the latest scientific information on topics such as hypertension, iron-deficiency anemia, eating disorders, vegetarian eating practices, and nutrition and sports.

Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition includes the following information:

• an overview of the role nutrition and physical activity play in a healthy lifestyle, a discussion of cultural influences on food choices, and guidelines for community outreach;
• nutrition supervision guidelines for infancy, early childhood (ages 1 to 4), middle childhood (ages 5 to 10), and adolescence (ages 11 to 21);
• overviews of common nutrition issues and concerns for these same age groups; and
• screening tools and other resources for health professionals, families, and communities.

The chapter on nutrition counseling for infants covers (1) introducing solid foods, (2) typical behaviors demonstrated by infants who are learning to eat, and (3) preliminary oral health practices such as using fluoridated water and cleaning infants' gums.

According to the guidelines, "the most important nutrition message for parents during early childhood is to ensure that their children consume enough calories and nutrients to support adequate growth and development."

During the middle childhood years, children may become concerned about their appearance, which can affect their nutritional intake and physical activity levels. Parents are advised to model healthy behaviors, involve their children in food preparation and physical activity, and avoid criticism of the child's weight or size.

Adolescence is a period of significant growth. Between the ages of 11 and 21, adolescents (1) achieve full adult height, (2) gain 50% of adult body weight, and (3) gain as much as 40% of bone mass. Poor nutrition can interfere with these outcomes as well as with daily energy levels. Parents and health professionals are advised to counter media images with information about physical changes and body weight and size norms.

Story M, Holt K, Sofka D, eds. 2000. Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health.

Availability information at http://www.brightfutures.org/op/opppnu.htm. Or contact: National Maternal and Child Health Clearinghouse, 2070 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 450, Vienna, VA 22182-2536. Phone: (703) 356-1964; Fax: (703) 821-2098; Email: nmchc@circsol.com; Web site: http://www.nmchc.org.

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MCH Alert. 2001. Arlington, VA: National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health. http://www.ncemch.org/alert.