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Eating healthy is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and is something that should be taught at a young age. The following are some general guidelines for helping your adolescent eat healthy. It is important to discuss your adolescent's diet with his or her health care provider before making any dietary changes or placing your adolescent on a diet. Discuss the following healthy eating recommendations with your adolescent to ensure he or she is following a healthy eating plan:
The MyPlate icon is a guideline to help you and your adolescent eat a healthy diet. MyPlate can help you and your adolescent eat a variety of foods while encouraging the right amount of calories and fat. The USDA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have prepared the following food plate to guide parents in selecting foods for children age 2 and older. The MyPlate icon is divided into 5 food group categories, emphasizing the nutritional intake of the following:
Oils are not a food group, yet some, such as nut oils, contain essential nutrients and can be included in the diet. Others, such as animal fats, are solid and should be avoided. Exercise and everyday physical activity should also be included with a healthy dietary plan. Nutrition and activity tips
To find more information about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2015–2020 and to determine the appropriate dietary recommendations for your child’s age, sex, and physical activity level, visit the Online Resources page for the links to ChooseMyPlate and 2015–2020 Dietary Guidelines sites. Please note that the MyPlate plan is designed for people older than age 2 who do not have chronic health conditions. Always talk with your adolescent's health care provider regarding his or her healthy diet and exercise requirements. Getting your child to eat healthfully is a struggle for many parents, especially if you have a picky eater in your family. Picky eaters often bring back unopened lunch boxes or ignore the healthy foods you’ve packed and go straight for the dessert. Learn helpful tips and tricks for outsmarting your picky eater from a Johns Hopkins pediatric dietitian.
Healthy eating during adolescence is important as body changes during this time affect an individual's nutritional and dietary needs. Adolescents are becoming more independent and making many food decisions on their own. Many adolescents experience a growth spurt and an increase in appetite and need healthy foods to meet their growth needs. Adolescents tend to eat more meals away from home than younger children. They are also heavily influenced by their peers. Meal convenience is important to many adolescents and they may be eating too much of the wrong types of food, like soft drinks, fast-food, or processed foods. Also, a common concern of many adolescents is dieting. Girls may feel pressure from peers to be thin and to limit what they eat. Both boys and girls may diet to "make weight" for a particular sporting or social event. The following are some helpful considerations as you prepare meals for your adolescent:
If we eat more than we need to, our bodies take in more calories than they can burn. And this is easy to do because we've become so used to seeing (and eating) large portions. Why do restaurants and food manufacturers like to serve larger portions? Because customers like getting the best value for their money! But the value meal is no deal when it has too much fat, sugar, and calories and sets the stage for health problems. People who consistently overeat are likely to become overweight. This increases their risk for medical problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, breathing problems, and even depression. Later in life, people who are overweight have a greater chance of having a heart attack or stroke. So what can you do to keep portions under control? A good place to start is knowing about serving sizes and portion sizes of different foods. Serving Sizes, Portion Sizes & Recommended AmountsServing sizes. Look at the label on any food package and you'll see a nutrition information section that gives a serving size for that food. The serving size is based on the amount of food people typically eat, not how much they should eat. Serving sizes help you see how many calories and nutrients — including fat, sugar, and salt — you get from eating a specific quantity of that food. Sometimes the serving size on a package will be less than you eat. Portion sizes. The portion size is the amount you do eat. In some cases, like vegetables, it's perfectly OK (and even a good idea) to eat a larger portion than the serving size listed on the package. But when it comes to foods that are high in calories, fat, or sugar, the serving size can alert you that you may be getting more than is healthy. Let's say you buy a 3-ounce bag of cookies and you eat the whole bag. If the label shows the serving size is 1 ounce, not only did you have 3 servings, you also had 3 times the listed calories as well as 3 times the sugar. Recommended amounts. Serving sizes tell you how much people typically eat and the nutrition in that amount. Serving sizes don’t tell you how much to eat or which foods you need to stay healthy. That's where the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPlate comes in. It recommends the right mix and amount of food for you. MyPlate is divided into four sections with dairy on the side to represent the 5 food groups:
The ChooseMyPlate website offers guidelines to help people figure out how much of these foods they should eat based on age, weight, gender, and activity level. How to Use MyPlate Every DayServing sizes on food labels and recommended amounts on the ChooseMyPlate site are usually given in grams, ounces, or cups. Of course, most of us don't carry around food scales and measuring cups. So how can we translate those amounts into portions we can relate to? That's where visual cues come in. A great way to "see" appropriate portions is to use the concept of the "divided plate." Similar to MyPlate, think of your plate as divided into four sections:
None of the foods should overlap or be piled high. Dividing your plate like helps you keep portions under control and helps you eat a balanced meal. Another easy way to size up portions is to use your hand as a guide:
Portion-Control TipsBeing aware of the right portion sizes and using the "divided plate" method can help you avoid overeating. But it's not easy to use these visual cues with foods that are hard to measure, like a casserole or sandwich. It’s also hard to track portion sizes of foods like chips and cookies when you eat right out of the bag. Try these tips to control portion sizes:
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