Failure to Thrive. Teenagers already have high nutrient requirements for growth and development, and therefore there is potential competition for nutrients. Each of the following sections describes a nutritional problem and suggests possible solutions. As a pregnant teenager, you can gain access to all kinds of health information for you and your developing baby directly from our website or our toll-free helpline by calling 1-800-672-2296. Free E-newsletter Subscribe to Housecall . Decreased appetite. In addition to the obesity-related health problems teens … Nutrition Problems for Teens. Sign up now. Furthermore, a large proportion of teenage girls have low intakes of a range of nutrients that are important during Our general interest e-newsletter keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics. It is difficult to determine exactly what proportion of those losses are due to maternal malnutrition, but recent research indicates that 60 percent of deaths of children under age 5 are associated with malnutrition — and children’s malnutrition is strongly correlated with mothers’ poor nutritional status. There is increasing evidence of competition for nutrients between the growing pregnant adolescent and her fetus. Pregnancy diet: Focus on these essential nutrients. Failure to thrive is a term that refers to a child whose weight or weight gain is not in line with children of the same age. Stages of Pregnancy ... Common nutritional problems associated with children include failure to thrive, refusal of foods, allergies and intolerances, iron deficiency anemia, and vitamin D deficiency. Even though you may not have planned to have a baby this early in life, you probably still want a healthy teen pregnancy. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans reports that 32 percent of kids and teens are overweight or obese. Not all solutions will work for everyone. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have questions. The adolescents most likely to become pregnant are often those with inadequate nutritional status and unfavorable socio-economic background. Pregnancy problems; In-Depth; Expert Answers; Multimedia; Resources; News From Mayo Clinic; What's New; Products and services. Teens often lack proper nutrition, even if they consume plenty of calories -- or too many. Although it's a common problem, its cause is often unknown. Teenage pregnancy is not a new problem, yet in the last 20 years several factors have influenced the awareness of the problem and its consequences. Lack of appetite, or decreased hunger, is one of the most troublesome nutrition problems you can experience. Pregnancy represents an ideal time for health promotion activities. Pregnancy, particularly during adolescence, is a time of extreme nutritional risk. Pregnancy during adolescence raises a number of nutritional concerns.