Question

EJ is a 14-year-old male who currently resides at a behavioral health resident treatment facility. He has been diagnosed with obesity and hyperlipidemia, most likely due to side effects from the medications he is taking for bipolar disorder. The registered dietitian has been asked to speak with EJ about his new diet order for a low-fat diet and to provide suggestions to EJ’s family. EJ is expected to return home next month. His family has been participating in family counseling weekly with EJ while he has been at the facility. Currently EJ is 195 pounds and 70 inches tall. EJ’s mother reports that EJ typically eats at fast-food restaurants after school three or four days a week. His intake of fruits and vegetables has only been 1-2 daily while at the facility, and his mother indicates this is more than he eats at home. When EJ does drink milk, it’s usually whole milk. EJ’s family is very busy, and often EJ and his two older siblings prepare their own dinner.

Questions:

1. What is EJ’s BMI? How does this classify his weight at this time?

2. What dietary recommendations do you have, specific to EJ’s situation, that can help him improve his nutritional intake and reduce his fat consumption?

3. What guidelines do you need to keep in mind as you provide nutrition education and counseling to adolescents?

4. Research the impact of family meals in the lives of adolescents using PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/). What is the consensus on family meals as they relate to the health of adolescents?

Answer 1

1.) EJ's BMI = Weight in kgs / square of height in meters

195 pounds = 88.4505 Kgs

70 inches = 1.778 m

BMI = 88.4505 / (1.778*1.778) = 27.98

OverWeight

2.) He should stop going to restaurants so often. He should shift from whole milk to skim milk. He should include vegetables and fruits; low-fat dairy products; and beans, lean meat, poultry, fish, or nuts in his regular diet.

3. )A good understanding of psychosocial development of adolscents. They believe in independence while still affected by the eating habits of the family members. They should be dealt accordingly keeping in mind that they should not getr bothered about the taste while fulfilling all nutritional requirements.

4.) The nutritional health in children and adolescents are directly affected by the frequency of shared meals with their family. The one's who share family meals 3 or more times a week have healthier dietary and eating patterns and are very likely to be in a range of normal weight than those children who share less than 3 meals with family.