Infant, Child, and Adolescent Nutrition & Fluid/Electrolyte Balance

Vocabulary flashcards covering key nutritional concepts, fluid and electrolyte balance, and common imbalances related to infant, child, and adolescent health.

Nutrition

The intake of food/nutrients and assimilation for metabolic use.

Macronutrients

Major building blocks for the body, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and fatty acids.

Micronutrients

Vitamins (fat-soluble and water-soluble) and minerals.

MyPlate Guide

A U.S. food guide providing teaching about recommended daily intake amounts of foods.

Preterm and Small-for-Gestational-Age Infants Nutritional Needs

Require high calorie/kg needs due to immature body systems, with breastmilk recommended and human milk fortifiers or preterm formulas often added.

Human Milk Fortifiers

Supplements added to breastmilk to increase nutritional content for infants with increased needs.

Exclusive Breastfeeding

Recommended as the only food source for the first 6 months of an infant's life, with continuation after solids until 12 months.

Readiness for Solid Foods

Indicated by the disappearance of the extrusion reflex, ability to swallow, sitting skills, and interest in food, typically around 6 to 12 months.

Weaning

The gradual process of giving up breastfeeding or bottle feeding, with the introduction of a drinking cup around 8 or 9 months.

Vitamin D Deficiency

A condition often seen in breastfed infants of mothers with inadequate intake, those with dark skin and limited sun exposure, and linked to calcium deficiency and rickets.

Vitamin A Deficiency

Associated with an increased risk of blindness, and can cause toxic reactions at lower doses due to fat-soluble storage.

Folic Acid Deficiency

Can be decreased by OCP and antidepressants, and adequate intake prevents neural tube defects and cleft palate/lip defects.

Zinc Deficiency

Low levels can cause nutritional failure to thrive.

Macrominerals

Minerals required in amounts greater than 100 mg daily, including calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride, and sulfur.

Microminerals (Trace Elements)

Minerals required in amounts less than 100 mg daily.

Protein-Energy Malnutrition (PEM)

A condition resulting from a deficiency in both protein and calories, distinct from Kwashiorkor and Marasmus.

Kwashiorkor

A form of PEM characterized by deficient protein but adequate calorie intake, presenting with edema, round face, and large abdomen due to ascites.

Marasmus

A form of PEM characterized by general malnutrition of both calories and protein, resulting in emaciation, decreased energy level, loose wrinkled skin, and small head size.

Early Childhood Caries

Major tooth decay in infants and toddlers often related to sleeping while sucking bottles of juice and milk.

Food Hypersensitivity

Includes all adverse reactions to food or food additives; also known as food sensitivity, allergy, or intolerance.

Most Common Allergens (Children)

Eggs, cow's milk, and peanuts.

Physiologic Anorexia

A normal developmental stage in toddlers where high metabolic demands of infancy slow down, making it appear they don't eat enough.

Food Jags

A common preschooler eating habit where only a few foods are eaten for several days or weeks.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

A measurement used to screen for overweight (at 85th percentile risk) and obesity in children.

Food Security

Access at all times to enough nourishment for a healthy, active life.

Food Insecurity

The inability to acquire or consume adequate quality or quantity of foods in socially acceptable ways, leading to childhood hunger.

Mercury Contamination (Risk)

A risk for pregnant women (fetuses), infants, and young children, necessitating elimination of high-risk fish from the diet.

Celiac Disease

An immunologic disorder of chronic malabsorption caused by intolerance to gluten (in wheat, barley, rye, oats), affecting intestinal absorption of various nutrients.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by preoccupation with weight, weight loss, and exercise, often involving psychologic aspects and leading to extreme thinness and potential arrhythmias.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder characterized by binge eating and purging, often concealed due to normal weight, leading to eroded tooth enamel, gum recession, and calluses on the back of the hand (Russell's Sign).

Vegetarianism

A diet without poultry, meat, or fish, with types including lacto-ovo-vegetarian, lactovegetarian, and vegan.

Enteral Therapy

A feeding method using the GI tract (e.g., nasogastric, gastrostomy, jejunostomy) for children who can absorb nutrients.

Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN)

Intravenous nutrition used for conditions like congenital GI malformations or post-bone marrow transplant support.

Intracellular Fluid (ICF)

Fluid found inside cells, accounting for 2/3 of total body water.

Extracellular Fluid (ECF)

Fluid found outside cells, divided into intravascular and interstitial compartments.

Acid-Base Balance

The necessary equilibrium of hydrogen ions in body fluids for proper cell and body function, determining acidity.

Buffer

A compound that binds hydrogen ions when their concentration rises and releases them when their concentration falls to maintain pH.

Filtration (Fluid Movement)

The movement of fluid between intravascular and interstitial compartments.

Osmosis

The movement of water in and out of cells across a semipermeable membrane.

Diffusion

The movement of substances from an area of greater concentration to an area of lesser concentration.

Active Transport

Movement of substances that requires metabolic energy and can occur against a concentration gradient (from lesser to greater concentration).

Carbonic Acid

An acid formed from CO2 and H2O, primarily excreted by the lungs.

Metabolic Acids

Acids like pyruvic, sulfuric, lactic, and hydrochloric acid, primarily excreted by the kidneys.

Fluid Differences in Children

Children have a larger proportional weight of brain/skin and ECF, immature kidneys, higher BSA, and high metabolic rate, leading to greater fluid needs.

Extracellular Fluid-Volume Deficit

Dehydration, which can be isotonic, hypertonic, or hypotonic and potentially fatal.

Isotonic Dehydration Treatment

Treated initially with 0.9% NaCl (isotonic fluid) for severe cases.

Normal Urine Output (Infants)

Approximately 2 ml/kg/hr.

Normal Urine Output (Children)

Approximately 0.5 to 1 ml/kg/hr.

Hypernatremia

High sodium levels, typically causing thirst, decreased urine output (unless DI), decreased LOC, and seizures in severe cases, treated with hypotonic fluids.

Hyponatremia

Low sodium levels, decreasing blood osmolality and making body fluids too dilute, leading to brain cell swelling, decreased LOC, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, headache, and muscle weakness.

Hyperkalemia

High potassium levels, often caused by renal insufficiency, blood transfusions, or shifts out of cells in metabolic acidosis.

Hypokalemia

Low potassium levels, primarily caused by increased excretion (especially through the GI tract in children) or decreased intake, leading to slowed GI activity, muscle weakness, and cardiac arrhythmias.

Hypercalcemia

High calcium levels, causing decreased neuromuscular excitability, constipation, anorexia, fatigue, skeletal muscle weakness, and confusion.

Hypocalcemia

Low calcium levels, leading to increased muscle excitability (tetany, twitching, laryngospasm, seizures, arrhythmias) and treated with oral or IV calcium and Vitamin D.

Hypermagnesemia

High magnesium levels, usually due to impaired renal function, causing decreased muscle irritability, hypotension, bradycardia, drowsiness, and potentially fatal respiratory depression.

Hypomagnesemia

Low magnesium levels, often from chronic malnutrition, diarrhea, or malabsorption, leading to hyperactive reflexes, cramps, twitching, and seizures.

Respiratory Acidosis

An acid-base imbalance caused by anything that interferes with respiration, leading to increased PCO2 and decreased pH.

Respiratory Alkalosis

An acid-base imbalance caused by hyperventilation due to anxiety, pain, fever, or sepsis, leading to decreased PCO2 and increased pH.

Metabolic Acidosis

An acid-base imbalance resulting from an accumulation of acids or excessive bicarbonate loss, leading to decreased bicarbonate and decreased pH.

Metabolic Alkalosis

An acid-base imbalance resulting from a gain of bicarbonate or excessive loss of acid, leading to increased bicarbonate and increased pH.