Teenage Diets

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Saturday, August 29th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

With today’s lifestyle the average teenager may find that they by no means, have healthy eating habits. Between classes they may grab a chocolate bar out of the vending machine at school or they run by the store and grab some chips before heading to their friend’s house. What your teenager is or is not eating is something very hard to to always watch.

Teens today are very busy. They have sports practice, club meetings, part-time jobs, busy social lives and many other things that keep them on the go. It seems like they don’t want to take time out to actually sit down and enjoy a delicious and healthy home-cooked meal with the rest of the family.

They may feel that if they eat too much they will gain weight due to the potrayal in the media of how their bodies are supposed to look. So sitting down at home for a full and wholesome meal may seem far less attractive than just grabbing a candy bar for a fast sugar rush.

The way teenagers eat is also affected by the many food fad myths circulating around in the media. They may not eat sugar because at one time, someone told them that sugar causes acne. Or, they may avoid quite innocent salad dressing because they believe the oil will do the same.

Although acne and sugar have been indirectly connected, such incomplete information should not be the sole basis for eliminating certain foods. Who knows what other nutrition choices they are making based on such “everybody knows” food myths.

So, what can be done to help your teenager?

There are numerous things you can do to help make sure that your teen is eating sensibly. You can pack them a healthy lunch, complete with healthy snacks that they can grab between classes. If they have an after school activity, try to prepare something they can have “on the go”.

Keep the junk food around the house to a minimum as this is not only too easy to grab when they are in a hurry but also forms the habit of just grabbing such things rather than giving it at least a little thought.

Don’t let them skip a meal. Eating three regular meals everyday will do more for them in maintaining high energy levels and good nutrition than anything else. This will also help them to maintain their desired weight, as junk food is high in calories and can cause weight gain.

Begin by buying sodas and flavored waters in low sugar form and progress to sugar-free. If they can get used to drinking these products, it will help them to cut down on the empty energy caused by a high calorie intake.

There are lots more things you can do. Before long, they will begin to just pop into your head. Never give up. Try to instill healthy eating habits into your teenagers without putting pressure on them. They possibly wont “get” what you are attempting to achieve or why, and it could casue conflict if you apply too much pressure.

They may feel you are suggesting they are overweight, which could lead to hurt feelings and introspection on the subject. Who is going to look out for them if you don’t? There may not be much that you can do to help them get rid of acne; however, just keep in mind that what you are doing will help them to prevent heart disease, osteoporosis and diabetes later in life.

Above all set a good example by doing the right things yourself. One thing a parent has probably learned by the time a child is a teenager is that they may not do what you say but they will do what you do!

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