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Nutritional Disorders
Learner's Module in Health 7
Quarter 2 ● Module 2
BEARENCE S. YANGYANG
Developer
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What I Need to Know
For the learner
In the previous lessons you were able to identify the nutrients needed in your
body and was guided on the use of the food pyramid on the frequency of food to be
eaten daily and your various choice of meal to be consumed.
In this module, you can see the possible nutritional disorder that any person
may experience when not taking good care of the body as well as the common mistake
of an adolescent on their eating habits.
There are activities to be given after each lesson, follow every direction. There
will be a post-assessment activity to be given after finishing all the lessons in this
learning material.
This module is divided into the following lessons:
Lesson 1: Nutritional Disorder: Malnutrition and Micronutrient Deficiency Lesson
2: Nutritional Disorder: Eating Disorders Enjoy and have fun!
Learning Objectives:
1. Identify the common malnutrition affecting the growth and development of an
adolescent.
2. Enumerate the health issues from the common health habit of adolescents.
3. Explain the effect of malnutrition to the growth and development of an
adolescent.
4. Identify the effect of unhealthy diet to a person and precautions against
malnutrition and eating disorders.
5. Discuss the characteristics of anorexia, bulimia and binge eating and its effect
to holistic health.
6. Explain ways to avoid malnutrition and eating disorders.
What’s In
In the previous module you have learned that adolescence is a critical period of growth
and development, so good nutrition is essential. You can also manage the inter-play of
your domains of health with a proper healthy eating habit. The food you take greatly
affect your growth and development.
There is a high demand of energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals since the
appetite increases. It is important then to choose the food that provides the necessary
nutrients needed.
You will now identify different effects of eating unhealthily.
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Malnutrition and
Micronutrient Deficiencies
LESSON 1
What is It
Poor meals due to poor selection of food, eating foods with high in fats from fast foods,
eating processed foods, and hurried food from home and schools may cause
problems, if not corrected. Studies show that most of adolescent’s diet needs attention
due to the following findings:
• Protein consumption is higher than needed.
• Carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables intake is too high.
• Fat intake is much too high.
• Calcium intake is below the daily recommendation.
Nutrition-Related Problems/Issues Common among Adolescents
Issues Impact to Health
Skipping Meals Meal skippers tend to eat more on the next meal, or nibble on
high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger.
Poor performance at school and feeling of fatigue.
Not eating on Unhealthy weight loss
time
Hypoglycemia
Vitamin Deficiencies
Eating fast food Low energy level
and Damages the liver
Junk diet most of Heart problem
the time Poor quality of living
It can cause type 2 diabetes
It can trigger digestive problem
It can cause kidney disease
It increases risk of cancer
Lack of fiber is the main reason why fast food and junk food
consumption is linked to an increased risk of cancers of the
digestive system.
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Consuming unhealthy food daily can result habit results to long term health-
related problems. Short-term like malnutrition and micronutrient deficiency are health-
related problem caused by unhealthy eating habit.
Malnutrition is a condition by which a person is not getting enough right food.
This happens with the choice of food you take. You may eat a lot, but these may be
fast food, frozen, and instant which means you are not getting the nutrients expected
from these foods from natural and freshly cooked food.
Malnutrition should be attended to immediately. Malnutrition in early age lead
to reduced physical and mental development during childhood. It leads to serious
problems such as the following:
Slow growth and • Sluggishness and
development. Poor school fatigue.
performance. • Poor nutrition in
adulthood.
Two types of malnutrition
A. Over nutrition happens when a person eats and gets nutritional requirements
beyond the needed ideal amount.
• OBESITY is a medical condition in which a person has too much body fat. This
happens if a person consumes food more than they need – the body will store
the extra calories in the form of a body fat, or not being active enough, or both.
Obesity can lead to medical conditions is not treated such as heart failure, high
blood pressure, and diabetes. Excess weight also puts too much pressure on
bones and joints, leading to pain and premature bone deterioration.
B. Under nutrition is a condition where a person does not take the daily needed
nutrients and nutritional requirements leading to diseases and deficiencies.
• MICRONUTRIENT DEFICIENCIES are diseases caused by not having enough
vitamins or minerals in the diet. Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals
needed to maintain strong bodies and mental sharpness, fight off disease, and
bear healthy children.
1. Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) causes night blindness (xerophthalmia) and
later, permanent blindness. Regular consumption of vitamin A-rich foods
such as animal products, and orange and yellow fruits and vegetables, dark
green leafy vegetables, and palm oil.
2. Iron Deficiency Anemia is a condition which the red blood cell count or
hemoglobin is less than normal. It results in retarded physical growth, low
resistance to infections, and slow development of learning abilities.
Consumption of food such as dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, and
red meat are rich in iron, as are iron-fortified food products.
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3. Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) results from lack of iodine in the diet. It is
one prevalent cause of developmental delay and brain damage in regions
where little iodine occurs naturally in diet. Iodine-rich foods are bread,
iodized table salt, cheese, saltwater fish, cow’s milk, seaweeds, eggs,
shellfish, frozen yogurt, soy milk, ice cream, soy sauce
LESSON 2 Eating Disorders
What’s In
Lesson 1 presented you the short-term effect of eating unhealthily. This next lesson
will show you eating disorders which is affected by other domain of health and shows
that the healthy eating habit is greatly affected.
We have been living in a world which advertises a single beauty standard that
is supposed to be accepted in our society. The beauty standard that we see in the
media made us too conscious on our body image, skin color, and social status. Thus,
makes most of the adolescents follow and do everything like affecting the eating habit
to achieves such beauty standard.
What Is It
Some adolescents encounter eating disorders because of their fear of being fat.
In doing so, they become choosy of the food they eat or even skipping a meal or two.
They become conscious of their weight that they do anything to prevent gaining weight.
Some adolescents also do not care about the food they eat and consume any kind of
foods especially because of the emotions they felt. These kinds of behavior may result
to eating disorder.
Eating disorder is a condition which a person do extreme, unsafe eating
behavior that can cause malnutrition and serious illness or may result to death.
Adolescents who sees “being slim is beautiful” practice extreme diet and
lifestyle because they want to fit in and become popular, look more beautiful /
handsome, and needed acceptance from the people around them. While some
adolescents only enjoy eating which make them gain weight above their expected
weight. Both eating behavior is dangerous to their health and overall well-being.
Are eating disorder characterized as a psychological problem?
(www.psychologytoday.com)
Eating disorders frequently occur together with other psychiatric illnesses/emotional
problems, such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders. This may cause
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by their personal struggles and the environment. If a person lives in an environment
which being fat is bullied in a daily basis, or a person is having a hard time to come up
with their personal problems like depression and anxiety, and self-acceptance, they
may develop any of the eating disorder.
Although there are cases that males experience this but is more common to the
females. People who suffer from eating disorders can experience a wide range of
physical health complications, including serious heart conditions and kidney failure,
which may lead to death.
Kinds of Eating Disorder
1. Anorexia Nervosa is an extreme fear of becoming fat which is characterized by
starving yourself in purpose leading to excessive loss of weight. People with anorexia
nervosa see themselves as overweight even though they may be dangerously thin.
For example, person thinks a small piece of bread is a reason to get fat immediately
then avoid eating such. A person with anorexia also uses laxative, diuretics, excessive
exercises after eating a small amount of food or even without consuming any food to
ensure and achieve a slimmer body.
2. Bulimia Nervosa is also an extreme fear of becoming fat but is characterized with
clearing the digestive tract followed overeating. In bulimia nervosa, despite usually
weighing within the normal range, sufferers, like individuals with anorexia, may fear
gaining weight, desire to lose weight, and feel intensely dissatisfied with their bodies.
An adolescent who have this condition eats a lot of food but abuses the use of laxative
or diuretics, do excessive exercise, or may induce vomiting to make sure the food they
consume will not make them fat.
3. Binge Eating Disorder is characterized by compulsive eating or consuming a large
amount of food and not eliminating it. Anyone who does this do not care if they gain a
lot of weight and enjoys eating more than any other activity on a regular basis. Such
behavior results to being an overweight or obesity or worse. A binge-eater may acquire
heart problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure among others as fat build up in
their body. Many with binge-eating disorders are overweight for their age and height.
Binge eating may be a result of depression or strong emotion which a person cannot
control.
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Warning Signs and Symptoms of Eating Disorder
Anorexia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa Binge Eating Disorder
• Dry skin • Damaged heart • Lack of control once
• Fainting • Damaged kidney due to started to eat
• Brittle Hair laxative abuse • Depression
• Dehydration • Dehydration and • Grief
• Loss of body fat serious malnutrition • Anxiety
• Irregular heartbeat • Enlarged stomach • Shame
• Loss of menstruation • Tooth enamel injury • Disgust or self-hatred
• Wasting away of • Sores in the mouth about eating behaviors
muscle • Throats are often red
tissue
Prevention and Intervention to Avoid Eating Disorders
Anorexia Nervosa Bulimia Nervosa Binge Eating Disorder
There is no known way to • Avoid skipping meals. • Learn to manage
prevent anorexia. Early • Avoid finger foods and stress.
treatment may be the best select meals that • Take three regular
way to prevent the require eating at the meals and choose
disorder from progressing. table. healthy snacks.
Knowing the early signs • Stop extreme diet.
• Eat regularly timed
and seeking treatment
meals consisting of a • Avoid dullness
right away can help
variety of foods in / boredom.
prevent the complications
of anorexia. enough quantity. • Do some exercises.
• Eat more fibrous and • Have enough sleep.
include fresh fruits and • Know your body.
vegetables. • Be aware of the food
• Drink 8-10 glasses of you eat.
water and do 30 • Get help.
minuteexercise a day.
Get help
How can an eating disorder be treated?
Eating disorders can be treated, and a healthy weight can be restored. The sooner an
eating disorder is diagnosed and treated, the better the outcome is likely to be. But
always remember that diagnosis and treatment are only done by medical practitioners
and not anyone who points out the signs and symptoms of eating disorder.
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There is specific treatment for a person with eating disorder because every
person who suffers eating disorder have different problem associated with their eating
habit. Eating disorders require a comprehensive treatment plan involving medical care
and monitoring, professional interventions, nutritional counselling, psychotherapy,
and, when appropriate, medication management.
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REFERENCE
Psychology Today “Eating Disorder”. Psychologytoday.com. Accessed September 8, 2020.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/conditions/eating-disorders
Teen Love. “I Can’t Even”. Blogspot.com. Accessed September 8,
2020. http://downloadfreenow123.blogspot.com/2014/06/i-can-even.html
#On A Quest Blog. “NEDA Awareness Week – Maintaining Balance”. Blogquestnutrition.com.
Accessed September 8, 2020.
http://blog.questnutrition.com/neda-awareness-week-maintaining-balance/
Popsugar.Fitness “Claire's Journey to Beat Binge Eating Disorder and Bulimia: "My Weight
Is Not My Worth" Popsugar.com. Accessed September 8, 2020.
https://www.popsugar.com/fitness/weight-loss-transformation-binge-eating-
bulimiarecovery-47207981
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For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:
Department of Education-Cordillera Administrative Region
Schools Division of Baguio City
No. 82 Military Cut-off Road, Baguio City
Telefax: 442-7819
Email Address: [email protected]
Social Media: facebook.com/DepEdTayoBaguioCity
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