Nutritional History Made Easy

Energy Requirement

1. For a child with normal body weight:

  • 100 Kcal/kg for 1st 10 kg
  • Add 50 Kcal/kg for next 10 kg
  • Add 20 Kcal/kg for body weight additional to 20 kgs

2. By age:

  • For ≤ 1 year: 100 Kcal/kg/day
  • Every additional years till puberty: Add 100 Kcal/year

Adequacy of feeding:

1. Breastfeeding:

  • Child gaining weight
  • Sleeps adequately between feeds with minimum interval of 2-3 hours between feeds
  • Passes urine 6-8 times per day

2. Complementary feeds:

  • 6-12 months: 3 times per day if breast-fed and 5 times per day if not breastfed
  • 12 months-2 years: 5 times per day
  • >2 years: Family food as 3 meals/day and 2 times.day nutritious snacks between meals

Calories provided by common foods:

Following servings of each food provides approximately 100 Kcal:

 AmountCooked measure
Cereals30 gm1 katori or 2 chapatis
Pulses30 gm1 katori
Vegetables  
Leafy200 gm1.5 katori
Roots100 gm¾ katori
Others300 gm2 katori
Nuts15 gm 
Fruits (Pulpy fruits)125 gm1 medium size (raw)
Cow’s milk150 ml¾-1 cup
Egg1 ¼1 ¼
Meat80 gm2 big pieces
Sugar25 gm5 tsp
Butter15 gm3 tsp
Oil10 gm2 tsp
Sago seeds (Sabudana)30 gm1 medium katori (cooked)

Assessment of Nutrition:

nutritional history

The 24-hour recall is the most commonly used method of obtaining information about a child’s intake and is useful as a screening tool. Parents/caregivers are asked to describe the types and amounts of food eaten by the child in the previous 24 hour period. This may not represent a typical day’s intake, and thus, the recall may not accurately describe a child’s nutrient intake.


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