Creating a healthy diet for teens in your family, and making sure they eat it, is just another one of the challenges of parenthood! Teenagers want to be independent, but that can mean they choose all the wrong foods.
Teenage boys drink loads of fizzy drinks and fatty foods, while the girls tend to skip meals, eat lots of sweet things, worry more about their weight and go short of exercise. It's hard for parents to combat these tendencies and get their teenagers eating healthily, but it is important to provide healthy food at home, and even better if you can make sure that everyone sits down to a healthy meal together on most days.
What is a healthy diet for teens? Most teenagers love fast food, and are often bad about sticking to a healthy diet. Yet teenagers, particularly those aged 15+ need more nutrients and energy-giving foods than any other group, as parents of hungry lads will know. Kids aged from 11-18 are often short of minerals such as iron, calcium, zinc and magnesium, as well as some vitamins. At the same time, their intake of salt, sugar and fat is too high. So a healthy diet for teens must make sure they get the nourishment they need, and keep down their intake of less healthy foods.
HEALTHY DIET FOR TEENS: OVERVIEW
Calories Boys aged 12-14 need 2200 a day, about the same as an adult, while girls need 1800. Kids aged 15-18 need around an extra 500 calories a day on top. This big need for calories explains why teens, especially boys, are always 'starving'. But it's better to let them fill up on calorie-rich, nutritious foods like nuts, seeds and dried fruits rather than junk. A bowl of muesli with semi-skimmed milk, for example, is a better snack than a packet of crisps or a chocolate biscuit.
Protein Boys especially need good protein intake, because they are developing muscles, and usually growing to be taller, larger and stronger than girls. Make sure they have protein every day, from lean meats and poultry, fish, dairy products, nuts and pulses, eggs.
Fats Steer clear of the unhealthy trans fats and hydrogentated vegetable oils found in so many manufactured products. A healthy diet for teens must include some fat, so make sure you use healthy oils like olive, sunflower, vegetable and groundnut, in dressings and cooking. Serve oily fish a couple of times a week as well.
Minerals Calcium is essential for building stong teeth and bones, yet around 20% of teenage girls aren't getting enough. They can get it by eating dairy products, and it's also found in dark green leafy veg, nuts, seeds, dried fruits, pulses and some fortified bread and cereals. Iron is also important, particularly for girls once they've begun menstruation. Make sure they eat red meat or soya mince, dark leafy greens, seeds, nuts, pulses, eggs, baked beans, dried fruits, wholemeal bread. Vegetarian teenagers have to be particularly careful to get enough iron. To be certain that teenagers are getting enough of other important minerals, give them plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds and dried fruits and pulses.
Vitamins Check out this list to find out what foods you should be including in your teenager's diet to give them a good helping of essential vitamins.
SaltKids aged 11+ should have no more than 6g salt (2.4g sodium) a day. Most processed foods contain a lot of salt, so avoid them as much as possible.
HEALTHY DIET FOR TEENS: DAILY SERVINGS
Based on the food pyramid, this is what you should aim for (serving sizes in brackets):
Starchy carbohdrates: bread (1 slice), pasta and rice (1/2 cup cooked), cereals (30g), grains, potatoes (150g). 6-11 servings
Fats and sweets: No amounts recommended - just eat less.
It's unrealistic to expect teenagers to be dedicated to healthy eating all the time, but if you do your best to provide them with a healthy diet, covering a wide range of fresh, unprocessed foods at home, you'll be doing a great job.
