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Healthy nutrition for schoolchildren from 6 to 17 years old

Medical expert of the article

Pediatric orthopedist, pediatrician, traumatologist, surgeon
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

Standardization of schoolchildren's nutrition is theoretically difficult due to the fact that at this age the widest variability of constitutional properties of metabolism, stereotypes of motor activity and stereotypes of eating behavior develops. To this should be added the difficulties of organizing schoolchildren's nutrition in terms of maintaining some continuity between the school and home parts of the daily diet, as well as the need to focus on the child's own internal "attitudes" regarding nutrition.

Concentration of problems

  1. Peak needs and the significance of their insecurity.
  2. The Educational Need for a Nutrition Focus: Standards of “Food” Education in School Education as a Key Investment in Period Health
  3. adulthood.
  4. Features of eating behavior:
    • impoverishment of basic meal rituals;
    • increase in the number of "snacks";
    • excess of sweet drinks, cookies, buns, chewing gum, chips, candies, etc.
  5. Special forms of eating behavior:
    • focus on intensive weight loss;
    • focus on “body building”;
    • correction of acne vulgaris;
    • psychosocial deprivation;
    • anorexia nervosa;
    • bulimia;
    • vegetarianism.
  6. Teenager and pregnancy
    • hormonal contraceptives with loss of micronutrients;
    • nutritional support during pregnancy.

All this taken together currently leads to the fact that it is in the group of schoolchildren that the prevalence of nutritional diseases is the highest. These are hypovitaminosis, iron deficiency, calcium deficiency, general nutritional deficiency and excess, and a combination of nutritional excess with qualitative (partial) deficiency. The group with the highest risk for nutritional diseases is children from low-income families, children with limited and the highest motor activity - athletes, students of ballet schools and colleges.

Below is an approximate daily set of products and portion sizes for children and adolescents of school age (“Formation of diets for children and adolescents of school age in organized groups using food products of increased nutritional and biological value.” Temporary methodological recommendations of the city of Moscow, MosMR 2.4.5.005. 2002).

Approximate daily food set for children and adolescents of school age (g, ml, gross)

Product name

Age

6-10 years

11-17 years old

Milk

350-400

350-400

Fermented milk products

150-180

180-200

Cottage cheese

50

60

Sour cream

10

10

Rennet cheese

10

12

Meat

95

105

Bird

40

60

Fish

60

80

Sausage products

15

20

Egg, pcs.

1

1

Potato

250

300

Vegetables, greens

350

400

Fresh fruits

200-300

200-300

The fruits are dry

15

20

Juices

200

200

Rye bread

80

120

Wheat bread

150

200

Legumes

45

50

Pasta

15

20

Rye flour, wheat flour

15

20

Potato flour

3

3

Butter

30

35

Vegetable oil

15

18

Confectionery

10

15

Tea

0.2

0.2

Cocoa

1

2

Yeast

1

2

Sugar

40

45

Iodized salt

3-4

5-7

Approximate serving sizes for school-age children (g, ml)

Dishes

Age

6 years

7-10 years

11-17 years old

Cold appetizers (salads, vinaigrettes)

50-65

50-75

50-100

Porridge, vegetable dish

200

200-300

250-300

First courses

200-250

250-300

300-400

Main courses (meat, fish, portioned sausages, egg dishes)

80-100

100

100-120

Side dishes

100-150

150-200

200-230

Drinks

180-200

200

200

Bread

30 - wheat, 20 - rye or only 40 - rye

School breakfasts pose a special problem in organizing schoolchildren's nutrition. They should be energy-rich and rich in micronutrients to ensure a high level of mental and physical performance of the child. An example of a recommendation for building school breakfasts can be seen in the following work by English pediatricians.

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