Diets for kids and teens must contain all the nutrients essential for normal growth and development. It's important to establish good habits early on in your child's life while you still have control over what she eats. Good eating habits might guide her to make healthy food choices through her adolescence and into adulthood.
Balanced Diet
The U.S. government suggests a food pyramid consisting of six food groups representing the parts of a well-balanced diet. The amount of each food group prescribed for your kid's or teen's daily diet depends on her age, height, weight and activity level. MyPyramid Plan, authored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is an interactive tool parents can use to obtain personalized information for their child. A 15 year old female who stands 5'1" tall, weighs 100 pounds and engages in 30 to 60 minutes of physical activities each day should eat six ounces of grains, 2.5 cups of vegetables, 1.5 cups of fruit, 3 cups of dairy rich liquids and five ounces of protein rich foods daily. A nine year old boy, 4'2" tall, weighing 75 pounds who engages in the same amount of activity should eat the same diet.
Weight Loss Diet
Kids and teens should not participate in fad dieting and diets that recommend drastic calorie reduction or food group elimination unless under the supervision of a medical professional. These dieting techniques can result in nutrient deficiencies that hinder kids and teens from achieving optimal growth and cognitive development. Overweight kids and teens should make a series of small positive changes over time, including adding exercise to their daily routine, in order to lose weight, according to information provided by Teens Health. Start by replacing soft drinks and diet drinks, with water or unsweetened herbal tea. Steadily replace groups of junk-food, such as sweets made with white flour and tortilla chips with healthier equivalents like carrot sticks, whole grain, low-sugar baked goods and baked chips. Avoid artificial sweeteners.
Mini-Meals
The diet you feed your kids and teens between meals helps achieve your goal of feeding them the proper amount of required servings, per food group each day. The University of Michigan Health System suggests thinking of what you might commonly call "snacks" as mini-meals. Keep these healthy tidbits ready and available at home and on outings. It suggests fruits and vegetables cut into bite size chunks, air-popped popcorn, Popsicles made of equal parts low-fat milk and 100 percent fruit juice, slices of cheese, whole grain crackers and peanut butter without hydrogenated oil. You might also try a half sandwich, a cup of vegetable soup or a small portion of leftovers from last night's dinner.
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