Nutrition Assessment: Adolescent 1

Nutrition Assessment: Adolescent

Jessica Crihfield

NRS: 207 Introduction to Health Assessment

Professor Charity Furcik

Aultman College

November 11, 2021

Adolescents are at a crucial part of their life where they are growing and going through

puberty. This age group consists of ages 12-17. They need the extra nutrition in their diets to
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help promote this growth. The body demands more calories more at this time in their life than

any other time. Boys require an average of 2,800 calories a day, girls require 2,200 calories a

day and more if they are active. Key nutrients that this age group needs are carbs, proteins, and

fat. A poor diet can really impact their overall health later on by impairing their work capacity

and productivity.

I did my nutritional assessment on my 16 year old brother. He is 5’11 and has a BMI of

30.7, waist circumference is 40 in.. He is a sophomore in high school and participates in regular

extra curricular activities such as boy scouts. He stays active in boy scouts by doing things such

as camping, hiking, kayaking, and biking. He eats a well balanced diet that promotes his active

lifestyle. He consumes mostly protein in his diet with foods such as eggs, chicken, and fish. He is

in good health but was diagnosed with high functioning autism and ADHD when he was 7. This

does not affect his overall health but he does have learning disabilities due to this and needs

special assistance when in school. He takes medication daily to help him concentrate called

Strattera. This medication does affect his overall diet. This medication makes him not hungry at

times and very hungry other times. Some days he can go without eating anything and other

days he eats 3 meals with snacking in between. This makes his weight fluctuate frequently. His

weight teeters between 200 and 220. He can go a couple days with only eating a meal. In 24

hours he consumed eggs and toast for breakfast, a turkey sandwich for lunch, and salmon with

brown rice for dinner.

My brother does not fall into the norms of an adolescent diet. His disability has a lot to

do with this. His eating habits cause him to weigh more than the normal teenage boy. His

physical stature is also different from teenage boys. He has a large stomach and is tall. The
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norm of adolescent boys is a fit stature due to their diet and the amount of physical activity

they get. Medication has a huge impact on his nutritional status. If he were on a different

medication that didn’t drastically affect his diet he could maintain a healthy weight for his age.

He is meeting his digestion needs. He consumes a lot of water with his diet which helps with his

digestion. Even though his diet is not normal he still maintains healthy digestion.

His irregular diet due to medication is the conceptual problem. He is overweight, does

not eat meals consistently, and has a disability. He will start a new medication immediately and

have a regular diet within 4 weeks of taking medication. He will incorporate new foods into his

diet that are high in nutrients and not empty calories within 1 week of taking the new

medication. He will eat a healthy portion of food and not overeat when it is time for meals. He

will create an eating schedule that allows him to eat at the same time everyday and start good

habits upon starting medication. He will get an hour and a half of exercise daily every day after

arriving home from school. He has been on a new medication for 5 days, has started better

eating habits, interventions in place, still ongoing.

References

(Healthy Diet for Adolescents (Ages 12-18) | Winchester Hospital, 2021)

Gulanick, M., & Myers, J. L. (2021). Nursing care plans: Diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes .
Elsevier.
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