Guest Post – Get Your Teen Healthy the right way

Get your Teen Healthy – The Right Way

Teens are complex youngsters – they’re driven by motives that include peer pressure and the latest fads among the top five. So when you have an overweight teenager who’s extremely conscious of her weight or a normal one who still obsesses about her (weight issues concern the female of the species in these seven years, so I’m going to go with the feminine pronoun throughout this article) figure and shape, you know you’re in a dicey position. In the former situation, you must encourage and help your daughter in tackling her weight problem in a sensible way, and in the latter, you must make sure she doesn’t let the way she looks rule her life.

Both situations though, call for the same measures to be undertaken – making sure that the girls don’t do anything stupid or extreme like resorting to popping diet pills, skipping meals and starving themselves, or throwing up as soon as they’ve eaten. They must be made to understand that they’re still in their formative years, and that a lack of the right nutrients and vitamins could end up doing irreparable damage to their physiology and also have an adverse effect on their ability to become mothers themselves. Read on for a few pointers to get your teen on the sensible path to health and fitness:

Lead by example: Don’t obsess about your weight incessantly in front of your daughter; if you’re overweight or could lose a few pounds, do something positive about it like eating the right foods and exercising at least three times a week.

Cook healthy meals: Rather than giving your child lunch money to buy food from the school cafeteria, make her a healthy meal like a sandwich on whole wheat bread with fruit for dessert. Ensure that she eats all her meals. Make your daughter understand that eating right during her teen years is important for a healthy life in the future.

Keep healthy snack options at home: Rather than stock up on chips and cookies when you shop, buy wholesome and low-fat foods like fresh fruits and raw vegetables that your kids can snack on when they feel like nibbling something. Get them to drink water or fruit juice instead of guzzling down calorie-laden sodas. This doesn’t mean that they must completely forgo all their favorite foods, just that they must limit the portions and eat them once in a while to satisfy their cravings.

Encourage her to take up a sport: While it may not be the cool thing to play a sport in high school (if you’re a girl), being active helps promote a healthier and fitter body and mind.

Talk to your child: Understanding what your child is going through and empathizing with her will go a long way in helping her to help herself. Don’t belittle her feelings, no matter how trivial they seem. Make her see that fads are just passing fancies and that the bodies that models display are not healthy because of the starvation diets involved. Getting involved in the process will make your teen open up to you and listen to what you say.

Losing weight is not a fad to be followed for a while and then dropped like a hot potato – it’s a way of life for as long as you live, and the sooner your child understands this, the healthier she will be.

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This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of x ray tech schools. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.