Trends in Teen Nutrition

It is quite important for parent to understand that teenagers need extra nutrients in order to support their growth spurt. Girls usually begin this stage of development at the age of 10 or eleven and boys at about 12-13. This growth spurt will last for a few years, practically their entire teenage years. This is also a period of dramatic changes in their lives as the hormonal changes affect all their organs. It is essential that parents pay attention to the trends in teen nutrition because it is quite important to keep your kids in excellent health during this period of their lives. One of the most important nutrients that teenagers should be provided with is iron. This mineral is very important with the onset of menstruation in girls and the increase in body mass in boys. Make sure that your teenage kids have a minimum intake of 12 milligrams per day.

Also, because of the rapid increase in their skeletal mass, teenagers need an increased amount of calcium intake of about 1,200 milligrams per day. Note that almost half of the adult bone structure is deposited during adolescence and calcium is a very important mineral that sustains the bone growth process. However, it is very important to understand that teenagers’ caloric needs depend a lot on their growing process and also on their lifestyle. For instance, an active 15 years old boy may need up to 4 thousand calories in order to maintain his weight, while an inactive 15 years old girl whose growth is nearly completed may need less than 2 thousand calories per day.

However, the trends in teen nutrition are not always taking into consideration all the important facts above mentioned. The truth is that most teenagers don’t comply with the dietary guidelines and most of them consume foods that do not supply them with enough amounts of iron, calcium and the necessary vitamins. The worst part is that most teenagers do not eat nearly as enough fruits and vegetables as they should, thus lacking in many minerals and vitamins. Also, research has shown that the majority of teenage kids love eating fast food and today this is much easier to do than ever as fast food is available inside the schools’ cafeterias. Thus, even if children are not allowed to eat this food while under their parents observation, the school systems apparently allow them to do it. This is very important to note as the calories from fast food are mostly coming from saturated fat and carbohydrates.

Besides, this type of food provides children with high cholesterol and a lot of sodium, which will increase the risks of malnutrition and other diseases. It has also been noticed that quite a large number of teenagers choose to change their diet into a vegetarian one. This has been actually noted as one of the major trends in the teen nutrition. This type of diet is not quite recommended for teenagers as they significantly lack in protein, calcium and zinc. The vegetarian diets may seem very healthy for grown ups, but it is very important to note that in order for all the vitamins and minerals they provide to be absorbed by the body they need other nutrients that are provided by animal meat. It is recommended that both vegetarian teenagers and their parents should consult dietary advisors in order to make sure that their daily diets provided them with the necessary nutrients.