Diet for Teenagers

THE TEENAGE years, is a time when awareness is increased regarding figure, weight, image and good looks. This is also the period when a lot of teenagers with peer pressure try out all sorts of fad diets to lose weight or totally go off food. This leads to a condition called Anorexia Nervosa where the teenager throws up anything eaten, and losing appetite and ruining his/her health totally.

The teenage years are the time of rapid growth and development. Proper balanced diet and adequate nutritional intake is very vital. Given below are some nutrient intakes, which are important for teenagers:

Calories:
During puberty and teenage, there is a big demand for calories by the body due to increased physical activity and metabolic rate. Adolescent boys, 13 to 15 years of age, need 2500 calories and girls of 13 to 15 years, need 2200 calories. For boys of 16 to 18 years, nee 3000 calories and for girls 2200.

You can make these following changes in your daily diet pattern:

Increase the intake, and the amount of cereals and pulses too during lunch and dinner. For eg, if you are eating two chapatis, increase it to three. If you are eating one measure of rice, make it one-and-a-quarter measure.

Include nuts, dried fruits and peanuts in your diet. Eg, eat five soaked almonds everyday, and also roasted peanuts as snacks.

Eat at least one extra fruit per day like banana, mango, sapota or 100 gms of grapes. These are high in calories.

If you do not take the extra calories during meal time at home, you will tend to consume empty calorie foods like soft drinks, ice cream, snacks and junk food in-between meals. This could lead to problems of overweight and obesity, which is the last thing you want.

Proteins:
The need for additional protein and nitrogen during this age is high. If you do not take the required amount of proteins at this time, it could lead to lower growth spurt and lower resistance to infection. The daily recommended allowance of protein is 55 gms for boys and 50 gms for girls (13-15 years) and 60 gms for boys and 50 gms for girls (16-18 years).

The increased demand for proteins can be met in the daily diet in the following ways:

If you are a vegetarian, eat at least one bowl of pulse,dal,legume everyday.

Try to have a mixture of dhals together.For example mix tur dhal 50 per cent and masoor dal 50 per cent as this increases the quality and availability of proteins from dals.

Drink at least 1 glass 250 ml of milk daily. If you do not like milk, you can take milk in the form of curds or desserts, in custard or payasam, etc.

If you are a non-vegetarian, eat fish,chicken,mutton at least once a day, preferably without deep frying.

For vegetarians, soyabean,tofu or nutri nuggets should be included in the daily diet. Soyabean has 40 per cent protein compared to 18 per cent in meat or chicken etc.

Groundnuts and nuts are good sources of protein.

Iron and calcium:
These are the two most important minerals required during puberty, more so for girls, as the two will influence the health and well-being throughout life. Deficiency of iron in the diet leads to nutritional anaemia. During puberty, the need for iron increases in girls, as there is loss of iron during menstruation. The normal level of haemoglobin for males 13 gms, females 11 gms and children 11-12 gms. The daily recommended iron allowance during teenage are 25 mgs for boys and 35 mgs for girls.

Intake of iron through the following sources:

Include at least one dish (about 100 gms) of any green leafy vegetable (keerai) everyday.

Among the cereals, ragi and bajra are very good sources of iron. At least twice a week, you can take it in the form of porridge, preferably everyday. This will keep your stomach full and prevent you from snacking during the day.

Use jaggery instead of sugar to sweeten milk, desserts, etc as jaggery has a high iron content.

Raisins and dates are high in iron. Try to include this in your diet.

If you are a non-vegetarian, include chicken or mutton liver in your diet. This is an excellent source of iron.

Use an iron vessel like a kadai to cook vegetables, etc. This increases the iron content of the food cooked in the vessel.

Vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron. So eat foods rich in vitamin C like citrus fruits sweet lime and orange, guava, gooseberry, etc.

Sprouts are also a very good source of vitamin C. Include a lot of sprouts in your diet.

Calcium:

It is another very important mineral required during the teen years. Low intake of calcium can lead to retarded calcification of bones and teeth; so include the following in your diet:

A glass of milk i.e. 250 ml will meet your daily requirement.

Include a leafy vegetable (keerai) at least 3 times a week in your diet.

Ragi, sesame seeds have a high content of calcium,so, if your grandmother makes ladoos out of these, just grab and eat.

Too much fat in the diet reduces absorption of calcium,so, do not eat deep fried foods.

Vitamin D and lysine promote the absorption of calcium; therefore, do not neglect taking a glass of milk. Milk is just not food for the children; it is a complete food for you too.

Reference: HealthOnclick