Healthy Eating During Adolescence

What is healthy eating?

• Eat three meals a day, with healthy snacks.
  
  
• Increase fiber in the diet and decrease the use of salt.
  
  
• Drink a lot of water. Try to avoid drinks and juices that are high in sugar.
  
  
• For growing children and adolescents, it is generally recommended to watch total fat consumption in the diet, rather than counting calories.
  
  
• Eat balanced meals.
  
  
• When cooking for your adolescent, try to bake or broil instead of fry.
  
  
• Make sure your adolescent watches (and decreases, if necessary) his/her sugar intake.
  
  
• Eat fruit or vegetables for a snack.
  
  
• For children over 5, use low-fat dairy products.
  
  
• Decrease the use of butter and heavy gravies.
  
  
• Eat more chicken and fish.

Making healthy food choices:

The food pyramid applies to anyone 2 years of age to adulthood. Consult your adolescent's physician for more information.

The Food Pyramid is divided into 6 colored bands representing the 5 food groups plus oils:

• Orange represents grains: Make half the grains consumed each day whole grains. Whole-grain foods include oatmeal, whole-wheat flour, whole cornmeal, brown rice, and whole-wheat bread. Check the food label on processed foods - the words "whole" or "whole grain" should be listed before the specific grain in the product.
• Green represents vegetables: Vary your vegetables. Choose a variety of vegetables, including dark green- and orange- colored kinds, legumes (peas and beans), starchy vegetables, and other vegetables.
• Red represents fruits: Focus on fruits. Any fruit or 100 percent fruit juice counts as part of the fruit group. Fruits may be fresh, canned, frozen, or dried, and may be whole, cut up, or pureed.
• Yellow represents oils: Know the limits on fats, sugars, and salt (sodium). Make most of your fat sources from fish, nuts and vegetable oils. Limit solid fats like butter, stick margarine, shortening, and lard, as well as foods that contain these.
• Blue represents milk: Get your calcium-rich foods. Milk and milk products contain calcium and vitamin D, both important ingredients in building and maintaining bone tissue.
• Purple represents meat and beans: Go lean on protein. Choose low fat or lean meats and poultry. Vary your protein routine - choose more fish, nuts, seeds, peas, and beans.

Activity is also represented on the pyramid by the steps and the person climbing them, as a reminder of the importance of daily physical activity.

To find more information about the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 and to determine the appropriate dietary recommendations for your child's age, sex, and physical activity level, visit the Online Resources page for the links to the Food Pyramid and 2005 Dietary Guidelines sites. Please note that the Food Pyramid is designed for persons over the age of two who do not have chronic health conditions.

Always consult your child's physician regarding his or her healthy diet and exercise requirements.

Healthy eating during adolescence:

Further, a common concern of many adolescents is dieting. Girls may feel pressure from peers to be thin and to limit what they eat. Both boys and girls may diet to "make weight" for a particular sporting or social event.

The following are some helpful considerations as you prepare meals for your adolescent:

• Arrange for teens to find out about nutrition for themselves by providing teen-oriented magazines or books with food articles and by encouraging them and supporting their interest in health, cooking, or nutrition.
  
  
• Take their suggestions, when possible, regarding foods to prepare at home.
  
  
• Experiment with foods outside your own culture.
  
  
• Have several nutritious snack foods readily available. Often times, teenagers will eat whatever is convenient.
  
  
• If there are foods that you do not want your teens to eat, avoid bringing them into the home.

Click here to view the
Online Resources page of this Web.

Nutrition Services at
Rush University Medical Center

Eating well is key to staying well, so Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, offers many nutrition-related services. These include:

Nutrition and Wellness Center
Our team of nutrition experts can help you achieve your goals, including losing weight, increasing energy, lowering blood cholesterol and living a healthier life.

Nutrition Clinic
Registered dietitians use state-of-the-art methods to analyze nutrient content of food intake, assess baseline caloric needs, measure body fat percentage and help patients comply with diets.

Nutrition Consultation Service
Services include nutritional assessment, enteral and parenteral nutrition therapy and indirect calorimetry. Clinical staff members are experienced in nutritional management of bone marrow transplant, surgical, gastroenterological and critically ill patients of all ages. This service is staffed by a multidisciplinary nutrition support team consisting of registered dietitians and pharmacists. The team is co-directed by a registered dietitian and a physician.

For more information about nutrition services at Rush visit our Food and Nutrition Services home page.

Looking for Other Health Information?

• Visit our Health Information home page.
   
  or
  
 

• Visit Discover Rush’s Web Resource page to find articles on health topics and recent health news from Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. You will also find many helpful links to other areas of our site.

Looking for a Doctor?

Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, is a leader in caring for people of all ages, from newborns through older adults.

Just phone (888) 352-RUSH or (888) 352-7874 for help finding the Rush doctor who’s right for you.