Diet for a Patient with Chronic Hunger, Iron Deficiency Anemia, and Lead Poisoning - Essay Example

Proposed diet for a child with Chronic Hunger, Iron Deficiency Anemia, and Lead Poisoning IDA and malnutrition are both very common in toddlers, especially in the United States. Healthypeople.gov provided many goals of improving nutrition and health and these goals are good baseline aims. This papers goal is to look at the case of “Jonathan”, lay down some possible causes for his IDA and malnutrition, and take certain steps designed to improve the situation and create a possible long term solution.

Step 1 Jonathans growth rate is very low for his age and according to his chart, his weight and height shows no improvement or minimal improvement his age should increase in 15% for 6 months. His weight and height are equivalent to a 21 month old child. He is underweight and it is not a good indication of a normal nutrition for his age. The health of a child is assessed and evaluate according to the growth development of a child upon birth up to the current age to determine the development and the improvement of the childs growth.

Poor growth may indicate health problem or potential health threat it also has a great impact on cognitive development and morbidity of a child. For children same as Jonathans age, the normal height should be 38.5 inches and weight of 16 kg as a normal values for boys age 30 months-old according to the CDCs growth chart. The results of Jonathan’s laboratory tests show low hemoglobin level and high lead level in his blood. Children in Jonathans age are high risks of getting lead poisoning. According to familydoctor.

org, Toddlers explore their world by putting things in their mouths, there is a high probability that Jonathan might exposed his body to the things containing lead especially in the household. Although calcium can help fighting lead poisoning by preventing lead being absorbed in the body, iron is also an essential part of the process. Hemoglobin in the blood allows them to carry out the transport of oxygen, it carries protein in the blood. Decreased hemoglobin level in the blood may result to hematologic disorder, according to Pillitteri, hemoglobin is composed of globin, a protein dependent on nitrogen metabolism for its formation, and heme, an iron-containing pigment.

Low hemoglobin level may cause Iron deficiency anemia due to low iron level in blood. Step 2This sections based on the childs nutritional assessment regarding food intake. In his case he drinks four glasses of milk or 32 ozs. per day. At Jonathans age he is ready to consume table food such as, meat, rice, bread, vegetables and fruits. These foods are necessary in contributing nutrition to children during growth development. These are also responsible in determining healthy eating habits of a child.

Drinking too much milk for the child may replace the ability to eat other kind of food which are important for the body to be healthy. According to kidshealth.org, the recommended milk consumption for toddler are 2 cups a day or 16-20 ozs. This is to give way to other solid nutritional food. That the child needs. Milk does not have all the nutrients needed by a growing child. It lacks iron which is necessary in blood. In Jonathans case he already developed IDA due to lack of iron intake. Iron is very important for children, they need to consume more iron daily than adults to maintain adequate iron levels.

Toddlers are active children and they need iron to prevent weakness, loss of appetite and increase stamina and immunity. Daily iron intake for children should be 6-15 mg per day to prevent IDA. Jonathan has lack of nutrition and his weight is less than the body required for his age.Jonathans risk factors that trigger IDA are:lack of iron intakeagemalnutritiondietweightThe goal of United states is to promote healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition both in children and adults. According to healthypeople.

gov their main goal is to Promote health and reduce chronic disease risk through the consumption of healthful diets and achievement and maintenance of healthy body weights. Their objective for this case is to Reduce iron deficiency among young children and females of childbearing age. One of the factors related in malnutrition is knowledge and attitude towards food consumption. Not all people knows what are the food essential for bodys requirement. Lack of knowledge in food can cause health problems and health threats especially for children.

Parents and guardians should also discipline their children with respect to food and eating habits. We should always maintain the recommended dietary allowance or RDA for children; it will provide healthy cognitive and physical development of a growing child such as Jonathan. Step 3:Nursing Interventions:-Provide health education to primary care provider of the child and to his parents. Promote proper nutritional intake and recommended dietary allowance for Jonathan.-Monitor weight and height monthly to determine the improvement achieve and comparative results.

-Provide diet modification as indicated. Emphasize on consuming rich in iron food and Vitamin C to help body absorb more iron. -Advice the family and the mother to provide healthy food during meal and do not tolerate unhealthy snack and excessive milk consumption to avoid loss of appetite.-Advice mother and the primary care giver to give iron supplement medication. And educate in proper administration.-Explain the potential adverse effects of iron which includes nausea and vomiting, diarrhea or constipation or black stools and tooth discoloration.

-Instruct care givers to keep iron supplements out of reach of children since it is toxic when overdosed.-Determine familys understanding regarding health education and childs diet.-Recommend or advice to consult dietitian for most effective way in providing food diet for the child. During health education, food that are needed for Jonathans health problem are discussed. This knowledge could increase the childs health. The diet recommended for Jonathan and should always include during meal such as green leafy vegetables (also rich in vitamin C), sea foods, red meat, liver, egg yolks, dried fruit, beans and iron-enriched cereals and grains for iron enhancement, also indicate that vitamin consumption along iron rich foods can provide better iron absorption.

Foods that are rich vitamin C are oranges, papaya, strawberries, kiwi, bell peppers, cauliflower and tomatoes. Milk have very low iron contamination according to http://wiki.answers.com, milk can have some low percentage of iron, but because of the higher levels of calcium and iron would be depleted. Iron and calcium take away from each other or stop the intake of one another. Milk is not a good source of iron and if the child will intake iron supplement encourage fruit juice to drink with it to promote better absorption.

There are also some potential problems that could steam from increased calcium intake; calcium can crystallize and be combined with other waste products in the kidney which promotes kidney stones. It will also cause hypercalciuria or increase calcium in the urine. Difficulty in urinating may caused by calcium stones, little blood could be seen in the urine because the wall in ureter may force the stone in the bladder. Toddlers need 1000-1400 calories per day, this is the recommended caloric intake necessary for Jonathan to promote proper nutrition and good health.

Meat consumption should introduce to the child, it will give proper caloric intake and it will help improve iron and zinc, it is also a good source of protein for body building. Proper eating habits also helps in fighting lead poising according to http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oeh/invsurv/lead/foodprotect.htm, Children have higher risk of lead poisoning when: they have poor appetites they have poor nutrition They do not eat regularly Poor nutrition and an empty stomach make the body absorb more lead.

Feed your child well-balanced meals. If your child does not eat much at a time, let him or her eat smaller meals more often. Provide healthy food, proper diet and proper nutritional intake to your child to improve health status and childs development.It is important to make a healthcare referral for Jonathan to give proper and essential care and to avoid potential or possible health problems. It also creates a healthcare team it is a good idea to give focus on different areas affecting the childs health and development.

Step 4:After nursing interventions the mother should be able to provide information regarding food preferences for the child. It should also show improvement on the childs weight and height. After a month of increasing nutritional diet we should be able to observe an increasing growth development, eliminate underweight and normalize laboratory values. In order to have a constant monitoring for the child, there must be at least a monthly appointment for a total of 6 months to monitor the childs progress.

Our goal for the child is a monthly improvement of 1-2 lbs. and the mother should also be able to provide information regarding the childs daily iron intake. Resourcesazdhs.gov. (2004). Foods Can Help Protect Your Child From Lead Poisoning. http://www.azdhs.gov/phs/oeh/invsurv/lead/foodprotect.htm Doenges, M., Moorhouse, M., Murr, A.(2006). Nurses Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Prioritized Interventions and Rationales. Edition 10. F.A. Davis Company PA.familydoctor.org, (2011). Lead Poisoning in Children.

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/safety/kids-family/617.html.Gavin, M. (October 2008). Nutrition Guide for Toddlers. http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/toddler_food.html healthypeople.gov. (2011). Nutrition and Weight Status. http://healthypeople.gov/2020/topicsobjectives2020/overview.aspx?topicid=29 Pillitteri, A. (2006). Maternal and Child Health Nursing: Care of the Childbearing & Childrearing Family. Nursing Care of the Child with a Hematologic Disorder.

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins PA.wiki.answers.com. (2011). Does milk have Iron?. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_milk_have_iron