Zoom on the diet of teens
Just like the baby, the teenager has great nutritional needs. He lives a period of strong growth: his double weight in 5 years and theteenager grows 8 to 12 cm a year. Faced with this growth spurt, the youngster also delivers an inner battle, in search of an identity and belonging to a group. Not easy then for him to consider diet as a priority.
Adolescence, the growth peak
The teenager needs a large carbohydrate intake, so do not panic if he swallows starchy foods at every meal. It is a real need for him. However, we must not neglect other foods. As with all of us, balance and variety are the keys to good nutrition. To maintain its rapid growth, the young person needs extra protein, which can be found in meat, fish or eggs. As for baby, calcium is crucial: bone mass is growing. The contributions of iron are among the elements not to be neglected. Girls are all the more to watch that their blood loss, during menstruation, are important. Do not forget the fat intake: it covers one third of energy expenses. The teenager's body, in the midst of turmoil, must not be deficient in vitamins either.
Vary your meal, even at fast food!
In the middle of the crisis, adolescents do not see the food balance as a priority. The young person can even swallow a huge amount of food during growth spurts. The danger comes most often from the outside. At this age, teens like to end up in places where fast consumption, sodas, fatty and sweet products are legion. If your child eats fries, hamburger, soda and frozen dessert at every meal, there is danger! The meal is fat, sweet and without fruit and calcium. To not steer his teenagerit is better not to forbid him but rather to advise him to vary his meal by taking sandwiches with cheese, potatoes instead of French fries, a compote or a milkshake instead of the usual fatty and sweet dessert, and the water.
Banish diets as a teenager
Diet for teenage girls is more problematic. Invaded by magazine photos, they all seek to approach the size mannequin, no matter the shortcomings. Difficult to make them understand that adolescence leads to a natural catch of size ... and weight. The diet at this age is therefore inefficient and dangerous. In the short term, it causes a lack of protein, calcium or iron. In the long run, he brings the girl into the infernal spiral that sometimes leads to anorexia (refusal to eat) or bulimia (irrepressible desire to eat anything and everything). These two eating disorders often hide a significant malaise of the adolescent and require medical assistance.
