Strategies to Develop Balanced Dietary Habits: Solving the Dilemma.

Abstract

Micronutrient deficiencies in children can occur for multiple reasons, including poor access to food, particular dietary patterns or health conditions that may impact nutrient absorption and utilization. Reduced access to food for infants and young children can lead to malnutrition, increasing the risk of infectious diseases, poor growth, cognitive impairment, emotional dysfunction, and even death. Due to the limited foods available, children with malnutrition also often experience low micronutrient intake. Selective or picky eating is a common feeding difficulty in young children worldwide and can have adverse effects on health and development. Selective eaters generally consume a less diverse diet, leading to an imbalanced nutrient intake. Dietary supplementation provides an individually targeted approach to address micronutrient deficiencies. This strategy has been used safely and effectively to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in high-income countries for over a century. It is the mandatory or voluntary addition of essential micronutrients to widely consumed staple foods and condiments during production. However, worldwide data suggest low compliance with dietary supplementation approaches. This leaves a question mark over the effectiveness of commercial food fortification and highlights the need for improved infrastructure to ensure food fortification or micronutrient supplementation in areas where there is an increased risk of deficiencies.