Health Tips for Teenagers

 


Being a teenager can be exciting - a time of growing confidence and independence - starting high school, passing exams, learning to drive, first girlfriend or boyfriend, for example. It can also be a time when you might have anxieties or feel embarrassed - noticing bodily changes, possible mood swings and, if you're a girl, you'll have started, or will soon be starting, your periods.
With all this to contend with, you may not have given your diet a second thought. But it is worth remembering that how you look after your body now - what you eat and the lifestyle you live - will have a huge influence on your health when you reach your parents' and grandparents' age. Get into good health habits now and you'll reduce your risk of developing of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and stroke. Eating a balanced diet, exercising and avoiding alcohol and cigarettes are excellent starting points!

A ‘balanced diet'

A balanced diet means that at each meal about one-third of your plate will include starchy carbohydrates, such as potato, pasta or rice; one-third fruit and vegetables and the remaining third, protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, beans, eggs, or dairy. Fats and sugars should be kept to a minimum and enjoyed mainly as treats!
As teenagers, your body will be going through a growth spurt - building muscle and bone mass and laying down extra fat. The increase in fat is greatest in girls, due to a hormone called oestrogen, which rises between about 10-14 years (puberty). Whilst this may not sound very attractive, in your ancestors' day, this extra fat would protect developing babies in pregnant women in times of famine.
In girls, growth is normally greatest between ages 13 and 15, and in boys at around 15 years. This means that you need extra energy (calories). The recommended daily intake for girls between 11 and 18 years is 1845-2110 calories, whilst boys need around 2200-2755 calories.
So how much is this in terms of food? If you eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full and you're a healthy weight you're probably eating the right amount of calories. You can learn more about calories by reading the Nutrition Information boxes on food packets, where you'll see which nutrients (carbohydrate, protein, fat and sugar, for example) your calories are coming from.

Vitamins and Minerals

B vitamins convert food into the energy you need to play sport, maintain a healthy nervous system and make red blood cells. Many wholegrain products, such as breakfast cereals and wholemeal bread, contain these vitamins - so it's no myth that those who eat breakfast generally perform better than those who don't!
Calcium is another important nutrient. This is a mineral, of which 99% is in your bones and teeth and because you're growing, you'll need more. The highest amounts are in dairy products, such as milk, yoghurt and cheese. These foods can also be high in fat, so it is important your calcium intake is from varied sources - dark green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts, as well as nuts and wholegrains are good sources. And don't forget good old water!
Girls need 1000mg of calcium a day, whilst boys need 800mg day, to reduce the risk of a disease called osteoporosis, which means thinning of the bones and a tendency to fracture (break), especially in the hip and forearm, as you age. Another way to describe this is to imagine holes in your bones which get bigger and bigger, until you have so many holes that your bones cannot support your body adequately and any slight impact or fall will cause a fracture. When this happens in several places in the spine, a stooped posture and loss of height occurs - you may have noticed this in some elderly people. Old age is probably something you don't want to think about right now, but the more calcium-rich foods in your diet, the stronger your bones will become and your risk of developing such problems will be much lower.
Vitamin D goes hand-in-hand with calcium - it's needed to absorb the mineral and is made in the body when you're exposed to sunlight. It also comes from foods such as margarine, egg yolks and oily fish. It's stored in the liver but supplies can become low during winter - particularly in older adults - when daylight hours are less. In contrast, too much vitamin D can bring toxic effects, so as long as you're eating a wide variety of foods and spending time outdoors regularly, you shouldn't need to take supplements.
Iron is another important mineral, which you need for healthy red blood cells - girls need 14.8mg a day and boys need 11.3mg. Girls need more because of their losses during menstruation and the subsequent risk of anaemia (when the body's red blood cells don't transport oxygen effectively).

Vegans and Vegetarians

If you're vegan or vegetarian, follow the ‘replace not remove' rule and you'll be able to enjoy a well-balanced diet, assured that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs. When you remove a food from your diet, you remove nutrients. For example, removing meat removes protein. In the main, this is okay if you're eating other animal sources, such as poultry, fish, and eggs.
However, if you exclude all animal sources of protein you need to make sure that your replacement protein, such as pulses, nuts and cheese, are eaten with some starchy carbohydrate. This is because plant sources of protein don't contain all the amino acids (the building blocks of protein) your body needs. By matching foods in pairs, the amino acids missing from one food will be compensated by its pair! Some examples are:

• Baked beans on toast
• Macaroni cheese
• Peanut butter sandwich
• Rice and dahl
• Hummus and pitta bread

A word of warning! Some vegetarians are keen on cheese. If this is you, this is great for providing you with lots of calcium, but try to limit it to a matchbox-size piece for lunch or dinner and eat other sources of protein for your other meal. Cheese is usually high in saturated fat, so you could be not only piling on the pounds, but priming your blood vessels for a heart attack or stroke. So think again before you order that extra topping on your pizza!
So, you may be thinking ‘I'm following these rules already, I must be getting all my nutrients.' Almost, but there are a few more things to remember!
Vitamin B12 - This is contained only in animal protein. Luckily, certain foods have this vitamin added to them (fortified) - breakfast cereals, soya and Bovril, for example. So cereal with soya milk every morning will ensure your body is stocked up with this essential vitamin, needed to provide you with a healthy nervous system.
Iron - Iron from plants is not absorbed well by the body. Low iron intake is common amongst teenagers and young adults in the UK - this isn't helped by increased losses through menstruation. But not all is lost! To avoid the risk of anaemia, simply drinking a glass of orange juice (or another source of vitamin C), with each meal, will help you to absorb more iron. And if you fancy a cup of tea or hot chocolate, drink this between meals, not with meals, as it will reduce absorption of iron and undo all the good you're doing by eating iron in the first place!
Calcium - if you are a ‘lacto-ovo-vegetarian' (exclude all meat, fish, poultry and dairy products) your diet is likely to be lacking in this important mineral, unless you replace it with fortified foods, such as soya milk. As mentioned above, calcium is crucial in minimising your risk of osteoporosis.
Selenium - This mineral is important in supporting a healthy immune system. The best sources are meat, fish and nuts. Brazil nuts are a rich source, so if you're not a meat or fish eater, add two or three Brazil nuts to your lunchbox each day.

Exercise

You'll have found it hard to escape news that obesity levels have risen in the UK in the past few years and are set to continue rising unless, as a nation, we change our diets and start exercising more.
Exercise is great fun! It can take any form, from a walk in the park to an energetic game of squash. The trick is to find something that you enjoy - and that makes your heart beat a little faster. The government recommends that you aim for 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. If this sounds daunting, you can break this up into 10 minute chunks - a brisk walk to the shops and back, for example.
Exercise not only helps your heart pump blood around your body more effectively and therefore keeps your bodily systems in order, it improves your mood and wellbeing, which in turn, will motivate you to exercise more! Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, running and climbing will also strengthen your bones and delay the possible onset of osteoporosis.

Smoking

If you've resisted the temptation to try a cigarette, don't give in now! The most common types of cancers resulting from smoking are lung, mouth and throat, with lung cancer being the leading cause of cancer deaths in the UK. And it doesn't stop there - smoking also increases your risk of heart disease and stroke and you'll notice that you pick up coughs and colds more easily than your non-smoking friends.

Alcohol

Binge drinking, which means drinking more than double the recommended daily amount in one session, has increased significantly over the last 10 years. It's more common amongst teenage girls and will put a strain on your liver if you continue to abuse alcohol in this way.

Top tips for teenage girls

• Eat a variety of foods through a balanced diet, including three meals and two snacks a day - a good guide is to allow one-third of your intake from breakfast and snacks and two-thirds from your lunch and evening meal.
• Remember also to drink plenty of water - 6 to 8 glasses is generally considered sufficient, but if you're exercising hard or the weather is particularly warm, you'll need to drink more. Water is best, but diluted fruit juices and semi-skimmed milk are also good.
• Don't skip breakfast - cereals and bread contain many of the vitamins and minerals you'll need to prevent nutrient deficiencies.
• Eat adequate amounts of dairy products, to encourage bone mass and prevent osteoporosis. If you're vegan, be sure to eat other calcium-rich foods.
• Include iron-rich foods, especially from animal sources, in your daily diet. If you're vegetarian, make sure you have plenty of beans, pulses, eggs and nuts along with a source of vitamin C, such as a glass or orange juice, instead of tea or chocolate.
• Limit your intake of sugary drinks, sweets and other confectionery to discourage dental erosion.
• Aim to exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week
• Don't diet if you're not overweight. If you are overweight, don't attempt any diets claiming a quick fix to weight loss - seek help from your GP.
• Say "No" to drugs, which includes alcohol and cigarettes - enjoy a ‘chick flick' at the cinema or at home with girlfriends to avoid temptation - better still, find friends who don't think drugs are the only route to having fun. 
• Share your worries with someone you can confide in - there is always someone who can help.

Top tips for teenage boys

• Eat a variety of foods through a balanced diet, including three meals and two snacks a day - a good guide is to allow one-third of your intake from breakfast and snacks and two-thirds from your lunch and evening meal.
• Remember also to drink plenty of water - 6 to 8 glasses is generally considered sufficient, but if you are exercising hard or the weather is particularly warm, you'll need to drink more. Water is best, but diluted fruit juices and semi-skimmed milk are also good.
• Don't skip breakfast - cereals and bread contain many of the vitamins and minerals you'll need to prevent nutrient deficiencies.
• Eat adequate amounts of dairy products, to encourage bone mass development and prevent osteoporosis. If you're vegan, be sure to eat other calcium-rich foods. And remember - although osteoporosis is more common in post-menopausal women, it does occur in men too - one in five men over the age of 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis.
• Include iron-rich foods, especially from animal sources, in your daily diet.
• Limit your intake of sugary drinks, sweets and other confectionery to discourage dental erosion.
• Aim to exercise for 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
• Say "No" to drugs, which includes alcohol and cigarettes - arrange a game of football or a bike ride with your friends to avoid temptation - better still, find friends who don't think drugs are the only route to having fun. 
• Share your worries with someone you can confide in - there is always someone who can help.

And finally - live sensibly and you'll increase your chances of enjoying good

Browse More Articles

Tweet

Written by Muhammad Shakeel

We are Creative Blogger Theme Wavers which provides user friendly, effective and easy to use themes. Each support has free and providing HD support screen casting.