Overweight Children: Jan 17, Teen Diets

Friday, April 8, 2011

Jan 17, Teen Diets

Teen diets are often notoriously poor in health benefits and rich in the wrong kinds of nutrients. This is because teenagers are concerned more with self image than good nutrition.

Teenage girls, especially, worry about how thin they look. Teenagers can develop unhealthy perspectives on body image, which can lead to fad dieting and poor eating habits.

Teen Diets And Peer Pressure

Teens are always under a lot of pressure from peers. The image of the beautiful cheerleader and muscle bound football player is really still in existence. Yet teen obesity continues to grow, which means there are a lot of teens facing serious self-esteem issues.

Teenagers are notorious for making the wrong decisions, and that often leads to the decision to use over-the-counter diet pills, or to try the newest fad diet.

The only diet a teen should follow is the "no-fad" diet. The no-fad diet is one that relies on good food choices that provide the nutrients needed to accommodate changing bodies.

This diet includes eating balanced meals on a daily basis, adding low fat dairy products and calcium enriched foods, and getting plenty of exercise. There are no diet pills or meal skipping allowed.

Fortifying the Body

Teenagers are half child and half adult, with bodies in a rapid state of change. A teenager has special dietary requirements that must be met in order to maintain a healthy weight and to enter adulthood free from the beginnings of disease.

Teenagers need more calcium and iron in their diet to accommodate growing bones and organs. They need more calories so the body has the nutrients it needs to grow, but they must be the right kind of calories.

Teenagers need to stay away from fast food, fad diets and diet pills. Parents have a responsibility to monitor their teen's diet just like they do their younger children. It is too easy to let the almost-adult teen make food choices without guidance, and yet this is a time of life when guidance is needed.

Parents should talk to their teens about their eating habits, assist with establishing a healthy weight loss program or an affordable weight loss camp if necessary and discuss self-image issues. Families should continue to eat meals together, and use the time to continue educating the teen about nutrition and the dangers of fad dieting.

Growing the Right Way

Teen diets should include a healthy balance of nutrients that supply the requirements of a growing body. Teens who are overweight or obese face many issues they should not have to confront at such an early age. These include peer ridicule, inability to participate in typical teenage activities such as sports, and self-image problems.

There is a right way and a wrong way for teens to lose weight, and the right way is learning to choose the right foods while increasing the amount of exercise.

Subscribe to my e-zine ?Our Children - Our Future? and receive a free e-book ?The Secrets Of Successful Long-Term Weight Control.? The download is available on the e-zine confirmation page. We love getting feedback about your visit. post your comments here.

Return to Home Page from "Teen Diets"