No diet plan is as easy as watching television. According to Oregon-based fitness coach Ben Cohn, the best predictor of whether a diet succeeds is how much effort you put into it. However, any diet for a teenager should be relatively low-impact. You must ensure that the diet maintains the proper nutrition upon which a teen's growth and development relies; moreover, slow, sustainable weight loss can help build healthy eating habits that last a lifetime. Consult your teen's doctor before putting her on any new diet.
The Basics
Losing weight is a matter of applied physics. Like adults, a teen takes in energy in the form of food. He then burns that energy through activity throughout the day. If he eats more calories than he burns, his body stores that energy as fat and he gains weight. If he burns more calories than he eats, his body takes the excess by burning stored fat. The result is losing weight. You have to burn about 3,500 calories to lose one pound of fat.
Sustainability
Slow weight loss is the best plan, particularly for teens, according to health counselor Maya Paul. Paul recommends losing only one pound per week for best results. Faster weight loss plans risk poor nutrition because of how drastically the dieter must cut back on food. Worse, Paul reports that many people end up cheating on or quitting aggressive diets prematurely. In many cases, those people put the weight back on within only a few weeks of quitting the diet.
Long-Term Concerns
The Canadian Paediatric Society reports that the risks of unhealthy teen dieting go beyond immediate health concerns. Crash dieting, skipping meals and fad diets during adolescence are a strong predictor for adult eating disorders. These disorders include, but aren't limited to, food addiction, bulimia and anorexia. As with many other habits, your adult attitudes about diet and food develop during adolescence.
Nutrition
Developing bodies require adequate nutrition. While designing a diet for your teen, keep baseline nutrition recommendations in mind. You can access nutrition details for many foods via the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Nutrient Database, or simply observe the USDA or Harvard School of Public Health food pyramids. Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of "You: The Owner's Manual," recommends taking a multivitamin daily while on a diet. This will fill in any nutritional holes left by the restricted food intake. Consult your doctor before taking any supplements.
Cheat Day
Celebrity personal trainer Bill Phillips recommends all dieters, including teens, take one day off each week. Although this slows weight loss, Phillips notes that it will help your teen stick to the diet over the long run. Teen life is full of opportunities to eat unhealthy foods. It will be easier for your teen to pass on a fast-food burger on Wednesday if she knows she can have one on Sunday.
Pack a Lunch
Cohn offers a single sentence as the most important step you can take to help your teen succeed on a diet: "Pack a lunch." According to Cohn, school lunches are high in calories, filled with empty starches, and accompanied by high-fat or sugary drink options. Replace that meal with a low-calorie, high-nutrition home lunch.
References
- "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy"; Dr. Walter Willett et al.; 2006
- Ben Cohn; fitness coach; Hillsboro, Oregon
- Canadian Paediatric Society: Consequences of Teen Dieting
- "You: The Owner's Manual"; Dr. Mehmet Oz et al.; 2008
- "Body for Life"; Bill Phillips; 1999
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