TEENAGERS AND FOOD

Adolescence is a difficult life stage, as it represents the transition between being a child and starting to feel like a ‘grown-up’.

In this period, nutrition also brings difficulties because personality tends to get independent but vulnerable to social standards, which sometimes leads to ignoring meals that shall be replaced by 'pecking' and fast food consumed outside home.

It deserves a special mention the concern that teenagers have with their body image and in which conditions they carry out restrictive diets to get closer to an ideal of beauty, influenced by the social standards of the time, because that can lead to serious eating disorders. Therefore, it is very important that family knows how to pass on to the children respect and love for their body, at the same time as healthy eating habits.

Teenagers have nutritional needs marked by sexual maturation processes: they increase size and weight, body mass and bone mass; so it requires a greater amount of energy and nutrients as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, in a balanced way.

The needs are very different among adolescents and depend on their personal characteristics. This justifies the use of different types of diets, which cannot be generalized. Nevertheless, we do have a guide for a diet, indicated in the following Decalogue:

1. Your supply must be varied: our body needs different nutrients to be healthy, no food contains all the nutrients, so we should not always eat the same thing. Enjoy your meals in the company of family and friends, and see what others are eating, you may discover new food to give your body a greater amount of energy.

2. Consume fruits and vegetables: fruits and vegetables contain nutrients that help keep you healthy and are the ideal complement for breakfast, snack, lunch, and dinner.

3. Hygiene is essential for your health: you mustn’t touch food without washing your hands with soap and water first; brush your teeth after every meal and after brushing them at night, do not ingest food or drinks –except water-.

4. Drinking sufficient water is essential to keep the body well hydrated, since more than half of our weight is water. You should take at least 5 glasses of water per day. If it is very hot or you do an intense physical activity, you will have to increase fluid intake.

5. Make gradual changes: do not try to change your eating habits and behavior from one day to another. You'll find it easier to do it little by little, marking you concrete objectives every day, do not dispense with what you like, but try to make your diet balanced and containing all the nutrients.

 6. Consume food rich in carbohydrates: half of the calories in your diet should come from these nutrients, especially processed products made of wheat, cereals, potatoes, yucca and vegetables and not of sweet candies, chocolates and so on.

7. Maintain an appropriate weight for your age, according to your sex, height, body constitution, physical activity that you do, and hereditary factors.

8. Eat regularly: our body needs energy as vehicles need fuel to move. To get up after spending the night without eating, our energy level is very low, so you should have a good breakfast, take your snacks at mid-morning and mid afternoon. Also, your lunch should be full and your dinner should be satisfying.

9. Beam exercises: as a bicycle that is not used gets rusty, the same thing happens with muscles and bones, they must be kept active for them to work well. Try to do some exercise every day, for example take the stairs instead of using the elevator or, if you can, go walking to school. In your free time practice some physical activity.

10. Remember that there is no good or bad food. Avoid excesses: keep in mind that it is no good to eat too much or too little.

To sum up, balance and variety are the keys to make your diet healthy. This is the way to keep a good, strong figure to help you maintain a fine health and an enjoyable life.

Santiago Sevilla, Azul Melgarejo and Margarita Mercado – 5th Year