Define important aspects of nutritional needs during emergency situations?
This unit discussed important aspects of nutritional needs during emergency situations and under environmental extremes. Under emergency situation, energy intake of 2100 Kcal along with safe protein intake of 46 g is required. To prevent micronutrient deficiencies, variety of food items should be included in emergency ration for general feeding programme. On the basis of nutritional assessment, the supplementary feeding and therapeutic feeding programmes should be conducted.
For successful adaptation to environmental extremes such as hot, cold, hypoxic (high altitudes) and microgravity (space travel), nutrient requirements are different from normal condition. Various physiological changes take place as adaptive response to such environments. Proper planning, adequate intake of nutrients and fluids is a must for successful acclimatization during expeditions and stay under extreme environments.