NUTRITIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF CHILDREN

Abstract

The daily allowances shown in the accompanying table are recommended by the Committee on Food and Nutrition of the National Research Council (May 1941) and the Committee on Vitamins of the American Academy of Pediatrics. They are ample for healthy children of average size and activity with normal alimentary absorption. They need be increased only if the child is exceptionally large or active or has fever (more calories, thiamine and ascorbic acid are necessary). Care should be taken that the vitamins of the food are not destroyed by excessive cooking; thiamine and ascorbic acid may thus be lost. The allowances in the table for vitamin A are suitable if the diet provides this substance partly in the colorless form and partly as the pigment carotene (provitamin A) of green and yellow vegetables. If the diet provides chiefly carotene the allowance should be increased because of less complete absorption. For the