N105: Essentials of Nursing Care - Health Differences

Essentials of Nursing Study Guide

©2017 Achieve Test Prep Page 22 of 160 GERD may be difficult to detect in infants and children, since they cannot describe what they are feeling and indicators must be observed. Symptoms may vary from typical adult symptoms. GERD in children may cause repeated vomiting, effortless spitting up, coughing, and other respiratory problems such as wheezing. Inconsolable crying, refusing food, crying for food and then pulling off the bottle or breast only to cry for it again, failure to gain adequate weight, bad breath, and belching or burping are also common symptoms. Childrenmay have one symptomor many; no single symptom is universal in all children with GERD. It is estimated that of the approximate 4 million babies born in the U.S. each year, up to 35% of them may have difficulties with reflux in the first few months of their life. Most children will outgrow their reflux by their first birthday. However, a small but significant number of them will not outgrow the condition. This is particularly true where there is a family history of GERD present. Colic (Paroxysmal Abdominal Pain) is cramping manifested by loud crying and drawing the legs up to the abdomen. Colic is more common in infants younger than 3 months. Causes of colic are rapid feeding, overeating, swallowing excessive air, improper feeding positioning or burping positioning, and emotional stress. One of the most important areas of nursing concern is support of the parents during the colic period. Weight Management Maintaining weight at a desired level can be very difficult for some people. People outside the desired weight range fall into one of the following two categories: • Overweight: 11% to 19% above desired weight; obesity is 20% or more. • Underweight: 10% to 15% below desired weight Definitions of the calorie fall into two classes: • The small calorie or gram calorie (symbol: cal) approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C at standard atmospheric pressure (101.325 kPa). This is approximately 4.2 joules. • The large calorie , kilogram calorie , dietary calorie , nutritionist's calorie or food calorie (symbol: Cal) approximates the energy needed to increase the temperature of 1 kilogram of water by 1°C. This is exactly 1,000 small calories or approximately 4.2 kilojoules. The calorie, the kilocalorie and the kilojoule are commonly used in nutritional contexts as units of food energy. As used in these contexts the calorie is based on the kilogram whereas the kilocalorie is based on the gram. That is, the nutritional calorie is the kilogram calorie and the kilocalorie is a thousand-gram calorie. Thus, in nutrition, the terms calorie and kilocalorie refer to equivalent units. • Large calorie (Kcal) is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of H2O 15-16 °C and is the unit in nutrition. • Resting energy expenditure (REE ) is the amount of energy required to maintain basic body function 1 cal/kg of body weight/hr for men and 0.9 cal/kg of body weight/hr for women.