Fad Diets and Teenagers Health

Teenagers and Food

Fad diets and teenagers attitude to food can be a battle for parents.

On the one hand fast food and eating out are very much a part of teenager’s lives.

And on the other hand parents have the responsibility of ensuring their teenager gets the best possible start for a healthy life.

Advice on Healthy Diets for Teenagers

• Lead by example. You’ll benefit and so will your whole family if you make healthy meals and get some kind of regular exercise.
• Keep your attitude to food positive and healthy. It is something to be enjoyed and shared.
• Offer healthy meal and foods. Be relaxed about it; don’t force kids to eat everything on their plate. They’ll eat if they are hungry and there is nothing else to choose from.
• Teach your teen the difference between foods that can be eaten all the time and those that are only eaten at times of celebration and special occasions.
• Involve them in planning meals, shopping for ingredients, preparing and cooking foods. Teach them a few essential breakfast, lunch and dinner meals in preparation for when they leave home.
• Talk about the tricks and manipulation used in advertising so your teen can laugh off their influence and form their own opinion about what they’ll eat and how they look.
• Encourage your teenager to be healthy and to feel good about the way they look. Losing a childish shape and gaining an adult one can confuse teens into thinking they are fat when they are perfectly healthy

Fad Diets and Teenagers

These are often too difficult for teenagers to maintain and they quickly lose interest of their own accord.

Be careful not to criticize or belittle your teenager for trying them. Be supportive and point out ways to modify the way they already eat if you think it will help.

If you feel your teen is being too strict or unhealthy, try working out a meal plan together that incorporates some of the guidelines of the fad diet with more realistic healthy options as well.

Stock Up with Healthy Foods

• Make sure the food at home is fresh and nutritious.
• Your teenager will look in the cupboards and fridge and complain that there is nothing to eat no matter how much food there is.
• Provide nuts, fruit, milk, bread and cheeses for snacks.

Don’t have soft drink, fruit juice or chips and candy in the house. These are for special occasions or to eat occasionally. If they are in the house your teen will want them instead of healthier choices.

Fad diets and teenagers health are important for parents to negotiate. Be supportive and keep offering healthy, fresh food.

Diets For Teenagers

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