How to Help a Teen Choose a Balanced Diet

Contrary to what your teen might tell you, cheese puffs, donuts and pizza do not create a balanced diet ̵1; not unless you consider triglycerides and artificial flavoring part of the food pyramid. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over a third of kids and teens are overweight, with the number of teens who are considered obese tripling in the past 30 years. Obese teens are at risk for developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, arthritis and certain kinds of cancer. It̵7;s a parent̵7;s job to teach her teen how to create a balanced diet, so that when he leaves home to go to college or live on his own, he will have the tools to eat healthy, exercise and maintain good eating habits.

Instructions

    • 1

      Teach the basic food groups by preparing family meals together with your teen. According to Teen Health from Nemours, an average adolescent needs daily servings of protein from lean meats, fish, low-fat or nonfat dairy and legumes; a wide variety of fruits and vegetables; and whole grains. Show him how to make tasty dishes from the foods he'll need to be healthy and feel good.

    • 2

      Give your teen the skinny on heart-healthy fiber. If your kid is old enough to ask to borrow the car keys, he̵7;s old enough to understand that he needs to feed his body enough protein, fiber, vitamins and mineral-rich foods. If not, he will not be able to focus well in school, or he will run out of energy just when he needs it most, like on a test or during a football game.

    • 3

      Show what the correct portion of each kind of food looks like. For example, a service size of nonfat milk is one cup, a serving size of pasta is a half a cup, a serving size of protein is the size of your palm. If you get used to giving your teen the correct portion sizes now and oversee that he serves himself appropriate amounts of food, he will know what his plate should look like when he leaves home to eat on his own.

    • 4

      Show your teen that he can have his cake and eat it too. Desserts or snack foods can be OK, if eaten in moderation and not daily. When snack foods become a staple in your teen̵7;s diet, they can lead to weight gain and problems with mood, focus and energy, due to excessive sugar stored up in the body.

    • 5

      Give satisfying substitutes for the sugary sweets or salty munchies your teen craves. Peanut butter and crunchy apples, low-fat popcorn, cheese and crackers or yogurt and granola are just a few yummy snacks that you can show your teen how to prepare in place of quick and easy junk food fixes. You should also teach him to add whole-grain pastas, breads and cereals in place of their low-fiber versions.

    • 6

      Swap your teen̵7;s sugary sodas with low-fat or fat-free milk or water. Get your teen in the habit of taking water bottles to school with him and drinking as much water as he would like before meals and during the day to keep him hydrated and healthy.

    • 7

      Take your teen shopping and show him how to read food nutrition labels. Show him how to make the right choices in shopping, with an emphasis on understanding how much fat, calories, starches and sodium are in packaged foods, as well as the benefits of foods high in protein, vitamins, iron, calcium, and other minerals.

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