What a Teenager Needs

There’s a lot of focus today on combating childhood and adult obesity, but we shouldn’t neglect the health of teenagers. Teenagers often have to trudge through a tumultuous development period in terms of how they interact with the world and the inevitable responsibilities of adulthood, which can lead to a hectic, stressful lifestyle that neglects optimal nutritional needs. You don’t need to be on the school track or basketball team to take care of yourself. It’s important to examine the large scale nutritional deficiencies effecting teens, and examine how to remedy them. We owe the young and vulnerable of society the proper nutritional attention and care they deserve.

The Current Nutritional Problem

Teenagers today could probably stand to be healthier, to say the least. A 2010 report from The Dietary Guidelines for American’s states that a disquieting 32 percent of teenagers are classified as overweight or obese. With that percentage comes an increased risk of type two diabetes, high blood pressure, and other illness’s such as sleep apnea. A teenager shouldn’t have their bright future compromised by dealing with the physical and psychological ramifications of an unhealthy lifestyle, and yet, it still happens. However, there is a wealth of actions that a teenager and parent can implement to ensure that they won’t deal with the negative consequences of neglecting their nutrition macros.

What A Teenager Needs

It’s important to keep in mind that there are no universal nutritional requirements for teenagers. For now, we can focus on two distinct age brackets where teens can fall into: 9 to 13 and 14 to 18. What causes bad nutrition in teenagers is a focus on unhealthy or suboptimal food choices such as pizza, candy, soda, and processed foods, which leads to an excess of empty calories being consumed. Sedentary teenage boys and girls need to eat between 1,800 to 2,600 and 1,800 to 2,200 calories, respectively, from nutrient dense food sources. There’s variance in calorie intake when activity levels are taken into consideration. For teenage boys who are active, whether it be moderately or intensively, between 2,400 and 3,200 calories are advised. Moderate or intensively active teen girls need between 2,200 to 2,400 calories. When considering what exactly is best to eat, it’s helpful to consider the USDA guidelines. When you have a plate with moderate serving size, you should have one side be grains and proteins, while the other is mostly vegetables with some fruit.

Conclusion

It’s highly important for any teenage to consult medical professionals before considering any intensive medical changes to their lifestyle. Teenagers are our future, and they deserve to have healthier lives by sticking to good nutrition habits.

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