This document discusses special diets for medical, cultural, or lifestyle reasons. It provides details on diets for individuals with diabetes, allergies, food intolerances, and religious or cultural dietary restrictions. It also discusses nutritional needs that vary by life stage, such as breastfeeding for infants, introducing solids during weaning, and avoiding unhealthy foods for children. The document concludes by describing two case studies: a 17-year-old with a dairy allergy who is on her school's cross-country team, and a 35-year-old vegetarian with type 1 diabetes since age 7 who must balance her dietary and medical needs.

1. Special Diets
P3 Describe the specific dietary needs of two
individuals at different life stages.

2. What are ‘Special Diets’
 Special diets are diets which have certain
restrictions which must be adhered to for medical,
cultural or lifestyle reasons.
 The one thing that they all have in common is the
need for a healthy diet.
 People with medical conditions might require
special diets such as low sugar, low calorie or high
fibre diets.
 Three relatively common medical conditions which
have dietary implications are diabetes, allergies
and food intolerances.

3. An individual may have a
restricted diet due to diabetes
 Medical condition where an increased
amount of sugar is found in the blood.
 The blood sugar level needs to be
balanced either by diet or by medication,
depending on the type and severity of the
diabetes.
 www.diabetes.org.uk
 www.nhs.uk
 What nutrients is needed/ should be

4. An individual may have a
restricted diet due to allergies
 A person with a food allergy can become ill
from ingesting even a tiny amount of the
food that causes the allergy.
 This can lead to the person going into
anaphylactic shock and requiring
immediate treatment.
 Common foods which people have allergies
to include:
 crustaceans (shellfish), such as crab, lobster and prawns
 tree nuts, such as walnuts, brazil nuts, almonds and
pistachios

5. An individual may have a
restricted diet due to food
Intolerances
 People with food intolerance’s bodies
react badly to certain foods and eating
these foods can make them very unwell.
 Lactose intolerance occurs when
someone is intolerant to lactose which is
a protein food in milk and dairy products.
 Gluten intolerance occurs when people
are intolerant to gluten which is found in
wheat, rye, oats and barley. Serious
gluten intolerance is called Coeliac
Disease.
 www.lactose.co.uk

6. An individual may have a
restricted diet due to cultural
Diets
 These are diets followed for cultural/ religious
reasons.
 2 common cultural diets are ‘Kosher’ and
‘Halal’People who follow Kosher diets… People who follow Halal diets…
• Follow Jewish food laws
• Only eat meat killed by a
specialist
• Only eat animals with split
hooves and that chew the cud
• Do not eat blood products or
pork
• Store, cook and eat meat and
dairy products separately
• Follow Muslim food laws
• Only eat animals
slaughtered by having
their throat cut and blood
drained
• Do not eat blood or pork
products

7. An individual may have a
restricted diet due to moral
reasons
 These are diets which people follow as part of
their lifestyle choices. The most common
lifestyle diet is vegetarian.
 There are many different types of vegetarian
diet:Semi or demi
vegetarians
Do not eat red meat but will eat fish and poultry.
Lacto-ovo
vegetarians
Do not eat meat, poultry or fish but will eat dairy products.
Lacto vegetarians Do not eat meat, poultry, fish or eggs but will eat dairy
products.
Ovo Vegetarians Do not eat meat, poultry, fish or dairy products but will eat
eggs.
Vegans Do not eat any foods of animal origin. Do not eat meat,
poultry, fish or animal products including dairy products
and eggs.www.vegsoc.org

8. Nutritional variation during life stage
development
Infancy • Breastfeeding provides immunity to baby.
• Formula feeding must be made up according to instructions and
equipment must be sterilised.
Weaning • Introduction of solid food from about six months. (Earlier than this
may cause later allergies and obesity and may also cause damage to
immature kidneys.)
Childhood • Importance of healthy and balanced meals.
• Avoidance of fatty and sugary foods to prevent obesity and tooth
decay.
© Pearson Education Ltd 2012. Copying permitted for purchasing institution only.

9. Using the case studies below you need to describe the
specific needs for two individuals.
You should include what the individual requires or needs
to avoid due to their life stage, their lifestyle and their
disorder.
 Rachael, age 17, has a dairy allergy and is a member
of the school cross-country team.
 Yasmin, age 35, is a vegetarian and has Type 1
diabetes, which she developed when she was 7 years
old.
 David, age 45, has a wheat allergy and requires a
kosher diet; he leads an active life and is a member of
a cycling club.
 Ravi, age 64, has irritable bowel syndrome; he has
recently retired from his job as a bank manager.