ABSTRACT
The abstract of the project is now the
e-Dietetics system for infant’s nutrition online help desk information system
has eased the general public most especially in the health sector, where users
wish to get information concerning a health for their infants can easily access
the platform and get the necessary information needed. These incidents vary
significantly in type and urgency and require the attention of a dieticians
(hereafter referred to as ‘users’) within one or more Public Sector entities.
The e- dietician system has a form where users can input their children and
gender and submit in other to get her children daily nutrient requirement.
Using the e-dietician must not necessary be a dietician but can also be user
who need a specific dietary guide for their infants. In other to achieve the best
out of this work, Html, PHP, SQL was used for the design of the web-based
program.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0.
INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Good nutrition is necessary for growth and physical
and mental health (National Health and Medical Research Council, 2000).
Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are required for
normal metabolic functioning and for recovery from illness and injury. Vitamins
and micronutrients have specific functions, and a deficiency can result in a
clinical disorder. Poor nutrition can increase the risk of a number of
diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some cancers, obesity,
gall bladder disease, iron-deficiency
anaemia, dental caries, and renal disease. The dietary risk factors for
cardiovascular disease, for example, include saturated fat from meat and processed foods, lack of fresh fruit
and vegetables, high salt intake, excess
energy intake, and alcohol consumption.
It is difficult to determine, however, the precise
extent to which diet contributes to
disease, because disease is also caused and influenced by behavioural,
biological, genetic, and environmental
factors (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2006).
Good
nutrition is essential for the growth and development that occurs during an
infant’s first year of life. When developing infants are fed the appropriate
types and amounts of foods, their health is promoted. Positive and supportive
feeding attitudes and techniques demonstrated by the caregiver help infants
develop healthy attitudes toward foods, themselves, and others.
Throughout
the first year, many physiological changes occur that allow infants to consume
foods of varying composition and texture. As an infant’s mouth, tongue, and
digestive tract mature, the infant shifts from being able to only suckle, swallow,
and take in liquid foods, such as breast milk or infant formula, to being able
to chew and receive a wide variety of complementary foods. ves. As infants
mature, their food and feeding patterns must continually change.
For
proper growth and development, an infant must obtain an adequate amount of
essential nutrients by consuming appropriate quantities and types of foods.
During infancy, a period of rapid growth, nutrient requirements per pound of
body weight are proportionally higher than at any other time in the life cycle.
Although there are many nutrients known to be needed by humans, requirements
have been estimated for only a limited number of these.
During
the first year, babies’ mouths develop from being able only to suck and swallow
to being able to chew. Their digestive tracts mature from being able to take in
only liquids, such as breast milk or formula, to being able to receive a wide
variety of foods. And at the same time,
they progress from needing to be fed toward feeding themselves. As babies
continually mature, their food and feeding patterns must continue to change.
This guide will help you appropriately feed the babies in your care as they
change and develop. It answers some of
the common questions on infant development, nutrition for babies, feeding
practices, food preparation, safe food handling, and choking prevention. The parents will also give you important
information to help you in feeding their babies. You should communicate
frequently with them so that you can coordinate what the babies are being fed
at home with what you feed them while in your care. In this way you can assure
the best care for the babies.
Children up to the age of 0-5 years are undergoing
a period of rapid growth in the muscles, body tissues and the development of
the brain. Their food and nutritional needs differ markedly from those of
babies, older children and adults and as well as growth and development are
affected by increasing activity levels and a relatively small stomach capacity
This means that a large range of vital nutrients
have to be included within the smaller volumes of food they consume. An
appropriate diet and approach to food issues are important factors in
preventing many health and development problems in young children and in their
future including obesity faltering growth and stunting, iron deficiency
specific nutrient deficiencies, dental caries and developmental delay It is
vital to help parents and carers make the most of this important opportunity to
influence their child's future health and potential.
The growth patterns of preterm, very low birth
weight infants are known to be considerably different from those of higher
birth weight term infants.
1.2.
STATEMENT
OF PROBLEM
Malnutrition in all its forms is closely linked,
either directly or indirectly, to major causes of death and disability
worldwide. This situation applies to per natal and infectious diseases as well
as chronic ones.
Globally,
in 2011 about 101 million children under 5 years of age were underweight and
165 million stunted. At the same time, about 43 million children under 5 were
overweight or obese. (National Nutrition Project.
Washington DC, World Bank, 2007)
About 90% of stunted children live in only 36
countries, and children under 2 years of age are most affected by under
nutrition (Karim R et al.2003)
Nearly 20 million children under 5 suffer from
severe acute malnutrition, a life-threatening condition requiring urgent
treatment.
New parents are subjected to all
kinds of contradictory advice about infant nutrition. But with a few simple
guidelines – and some advice from Precision Nutrition parents – you can be sure
that you are getting your infant off to the healthiest start.
In life, as in other things, where
you start can determine where you finish. Infancy the first year of life is a
prime time for growth and changes throughout the body. What we eat as infants
strongly affects our long-term body weight, health, metabolic programming,
immune system, and overall aging.
A
baby’s developmental readiness determines which foods should be fed, what
texture the foods should be, and which feeding styles to use. All babies develop at their own rate.
Although age and size often correspond with developmental readiness, these
should not be used as sole considerations for deciding what and how to feed
babies. It is important to be aware of
babies rapidly developing mouth patterns and hand and body control so that you
know the appropriate food and texture to serve them and the appropriate feeding
style to use at each stage of their development,
As babies mature, they are able to begin
learning to eat infant cereals and strained solid foods from a spoon. Eventually they are able to feed themselves
small pieces of food by hand and later by spoon. The rate at which each baby progresses to
each new food texture and feeding style is determined by the baby’s own skills
and attitudes. Some babies are cautious, others venturesome. Babies always do better if they are supported
in progressing at their own rate.
Feeding
a baby or child with Down syndrome can present a number of problems1. Eating is
one of the most complex things that we do. While we assume that everyone is
born knowing what to do – it is actually a culmination of many developmental
stages, experiences and sensory skills.
For children with Down syndrome successful eating happens but with a few
bumps on the way. Children with Down syndrome develop eating skills at their
own pace like other children. Many children have difficulty co-ordinating
tongue and mouth movements and some choke and gag frequently. If a child is
having problems with feeding referral to a speech therapist for a feeding
assessment is essential (Guthrie Medlan, 2002).
Establishing
a regular meal pattern made up of 3 small balanced and varied meals including
2-3 nutritious snacks is recommended as the optimum way of ensuring a young
child is able to meet their nutritional requirements. Foods offered should be
nutrient dense, meet (but not exceed) energy requirements and be varied and
appealing. This can be a challenge for parents and carers, particularly during
the toddler years when young children are developing and learning to express
their independence. Parents and carers should be encouraged and supported to
establish a regular eating pattern providing and eating a variety of foods from
the 5 food groups so that young children become familiar with learning to
making healthy food choices from an early age. Children learn by watching the
behaviour of those around them so parents, carers and others are important role
models. Healthy family food for everyone will help young children develop good
eating habits for the future. Lawson, M.S. Thomas, M. Hardiman,
A. (1998)
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The main purpose of this study is to eliminate
errors involved in dietetic guider and counselling of mothers and child
dietetic data/information. This is actualized by designing computerized based
analysis system for dietetic which is user friendly and interactive. By the
time this platform is designed and implemented, the difficulties encountered
with manual method of sourcing information from unskilled and traditional
midwifes nutritionist and dietician base on dietetic and nutritional fact of
infants’ children will be eliminated.
The
aims and objectives of this project is also listed below:
To
provide an electronic platform for parents to know their infants daily
nutrients requirement.
To enable people understand the essential
value of using e-dietetics to get vital information..
To make parents to have easy access to
e-dietetic in their homes, work place
and their leisure places anytime, anywhere, without going through the stress of
travelling to visit a dietician/ nutritionist
To
easy the work associated with manual method of analyzing dietetics
data/information.
To eliminate the error involved with the
manual method analyzing result in the nutritional facts of infant’s children.
To save the time wasted when method analyzing infants
dietetics information.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
With
the growth in information technology, the study offers numerous values to the
health sectors basically on Paediatric dieticians. Huge of files kept in the offices will no
longer be there again because information will be stored on the computer with
the help of the database program and also it reduces time wastage and
appointments between the parents, guarders of the children and also unforeseen
circumstances that may occur,
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This
project work is narrowed to computerized based spec analysis system for infant’s
dietetics system for 0-5 years. It also deals with the development of database
program to help in the storage of infant’s nutrient requirement Information.
1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Owing to the scope of this project work as
stated above, this project work is limited to computerized based spec analysis
system for e-dietetic for infants’ nutrition.
It is important to mention here the following
factors limiting to this research work, which are:
Time
Low
internet access
Financial constrain
Power
failure
Where
major constraint occurs in the course of fact finding. It is also wise to
mention here that some information we need to work with were not collected
because of these reasons.
1.7. DEFINATION OF TERM
Dietician;- A
dietician is an expert in dietetics;
that is, human nutrition and the regulation of diet. A dietician alters their patient's nutrition based upon their medical
condition and individual needs. Dieticians are regulated healthcare
professionals licensed to assess, diagnose, and treat nutritional problems.(
Lee, Jason (2013)Most dietician work in the treatment and
prevention of disease
(administering medical nutrition therapy, as part of medical teams), often in
hospitals, health-maintenance organizations, private
practices, or other health-care facilities. In addition, a large number of
registered dietarians work in community and public-health settings, and/or in
academia and research. A growing number of dieticians work in the food industry,
journalism, sports nutrition, corporate wellness programs, and other
non-traditional dietetics settings.
Nutrition;- Nutrition is the science that
interprets the interaction of nutrients
and other substances in food
in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an
organism. It includes food intake, absorption, assimilation,
biosynthesis,
catabolism
and excretion
Diet;-
diet is the sum of food consumed
by a person or other organism.
The word diet often implies the use of specific intake of nutrition
for health
or weight-management
reasons (with the two often being related). Although humans are omnivores,
each culture and each person holds some food preferences or some food taboos.
This may be due to personal tastes or ethical reasons. Individual dietary
choices may be more or less healthy.
Automation: The
replacement of human workers by technology. A system in which a workplace or
process has been converted to one that replaced or ministries human labour with
electronic or mechanical equipment.
Computer:
An electronic machine capable of accepting data in the form of input processes
it under a set of complete condition, stores information or request for
references and generated result in the form of output.
Dietetics: The
branch of knowledge concerned with the diet and its effects on health,
especially with the practical application of a scientific understanding of
nutrition.
Infant: An infant is the more formal
or specialised synonym for "baby", the very young offspring of a human. The
term may also be used to refer to juveniles of other organisms.
A newborn is,
in colloquial use, an infant who is only hours, days, or up to one month old. In
medical contexts, newborn or neonate refers to an infant in
the first 28 days after birth; the term applies to premature, full term, and
postmature infants; before birth, the term "fetus" is used. The
term "infant" is typically applied to young children between one
month and one year of age; however, definitions may vary and may include
children up to two years of age. When a human child learns to walk, the term
"toddler" may
be used instead.