A Healthy Diet for Teenage Girls
A healthy diet for teenage girls looks much like that for an adult, but because she is still growing, nutritional balance and establishing good habits are even more important. Teenage girls are particularly sensitive to their weight and suffer psychological as well as health consequences from being overweight. Some teenage girls of normal weight develop disordered eating habits.
Teenage girls need to take in an appropriate number of calories, neither too many nor too few, to provide energy for their daily activities, to obtain important vitamins and nutrients, maximize height potential, and maintain a healthy weight. Being obese in adolescence potentially results in a lifetime of health problems. Overweight teenagers often develop early onset of chronic conditions such as heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, asthma and sleep apnea.
A healthy diet for a teenage girl features a balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Do not shy away from healthy fats, like those found in nuts, olive oil and avocados; obtaining about 25 to 35 percent of your daily calories from these sources helps with vitamin absorption, healthy skin and hair and hormone regulation. Carbohydrates, like whole grains and fresh fruits and vegetables, provide energy and nutrition. Calcium, available in low fat dairy such as milk, cottage cheese and yogurt and in dark green vegetables, is especially important to support growing bones and prevent weak bones later in life.
Types of Foods to include a Healthy Diet for Teenage Girls
Giving girls the tools to make healthy choices can help them manage their weight and gradually lose pounds. Strive to eat breakfast every day because it fuels your morning and prevents overeating later in the day. Choose a healthy diet for teenage girls whole wheat toast with peanut butter or pour a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk. If you run out the door, grab a low-fat string cheese and a banana, or blend an all-fruit smoothie to pour into a to-go cup.
At the lunch line, your choices might be limited but skip the fries and burger or pizza and go for a grilled chicken sandwich with a baked potato instead. Better yet, bring your own lunch that might include a turkey sandwich on whole wheat, yogurt and fresh fruit. At dinner, a teenage girl can help plan and prepare the meal. Whole grain pasta with marinara and a side salad can be made by the most novices of cooks.
Foods to Avoid
Teenage girls should, as should everyone, limit processed and fast foods to help keep calories in check. Cut back on empty calories first, those found in soda and sweets, to help reduce calories, without sacrificing nutrition. Significantly reduce intake of saturated fats, those found in fatty cuts of meat and cheese and butter. Let your teenager go shopping with you and choose products without “partially hydrogenated” oils in the ingredient list. Limit intake of refined carbohydrates though as well, like snack crackers, chips, muffins and cookies and white bread, because these offer limited nutrition and spike blood sugar on a healthy diet for teenage girls.
Choose a healthy diet for teenage girls whole wheat toast with peanut butter or pour a bowl of whole grain cereal with low fat milk. For more information about good healthy diet to lose weight, simply click the previous links.
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