Nutrition for Tweens & Teens

Weight Loss for Tweens and Teens?🍔🍟🍕🍦
~ Maxine, Registered Dietitian
 
One of my clients kindly asked for some nutrition advice regarding her younger teenage son as he wants to lose weight and join her weight loss journey. Everyone needs an individualized approach to their nutritional goals but I wanted to share my general guidelines in case there are other parents here that are unsure on how to go about this.
 
Firstly, I recommend staying away from the concept of "dieting" or calorie counting at the start. It can be very overwhelming for a tween/ younger teen and often ends up having a negative impact on their relationship with food well into adulthood. I would rather focus on making "health" their ultimate goal. Teaching them about macros and how to build a healthy meal instead is a great start.
 
Here are a few healthy eating and lifestyle guidelines to support:

• 7-8 hours of sleep each night (important for supporting growth and limiting sugar cravings the next day)
• Avoid skipping meals (especially breakfast)
• Eat 2 fruit a day and 3 or more different vegetables each day (3 x 1/2 cup servings)
• Drink lots of water (2L/ 70oz per day)
• Include a protein source with each meal (eggs, cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, chicken, meat, fish, ham/ turkey deli meat, tuna, legumes, tofu etc.)
• Limit all sugary carbonated drinks and juices
• Treat foods/ processed foods (such as chocolates, crisps, candy, cookies) should either be limited to 1-2 days a week or eaten in smaller portion-controlled amounts
• Encourage an increase in activity levels by playing sports that they enjoy (a great distraction from the kitchen as well as important for building muscle and burning calories)
• Limit their screen time during the day as that reduces activity levels
• Encourage them to spend time on hobbies/ activities that are unrelated to food.
• Enjoy main meals together as a family and without distractions (TV, cell phones etc.)
  
• Encourage them to join you in the kitchen to learn more about food, cooking, meal prepping and planning their favorite meals for the week.
  
• Discuss the importance of healthy meal choices with the whole family and try to make sure that they don't feel isolated around meal times.
  
• Discussions around body weight should be more positive and focused on what the body can do, the importance of healthy food to fuel the brain, to play sport better and to nourish the body the best way possible.
  
• Instead of tracking, you could encourage them to use a food journal where they write down their meals for a week or two (or to plan their meals/ snacks ahead of time) which will help them to analyze and review their dietary intake.

Lastly, kids tend to copy their parents’ habits so as long as you keep going on your health journey I'm sure it will benefit them too!😁