Metabolism is the ability your teen's body has to convert food to fuel, according to Kids Health. A higher metabolism means that your teen is able to burn more calories and maintain a healthy weight. A healthy metabolism is also important to ensure that your teen's body is able to perform all of the tasks that keep her healthy, including digestion and storage of energy. If your teen's metabolism is slow, there are ways to boost it so she can achieve and maintain good health.
Eat Breakfast
A healthy breakfast will give your teen the energy he needs to face the day and complete his morning activities. Kids Health says that as your teen sleeps, his metabolism slows down and that eating breakfast will wake his metabolism up and give him the stamina he needs until lunch. A breakfast based on nutritious foods will ensure that his metabolism and energy remain steady throughout the morning, so encourage him to pass on high sugar cereals or high-fat breakfast meats. Instead, provide low-sugar instant oatmeal, whole-grain bread for toast or whole-grain cereals. Each of these has fiber to fill your teen and keep him from getting hungry. Fresh fruit is another important part of a healthy breakfast so keep several of your teen's favorites on hand so he is more motivated to eat them.
Strength Train
Building muscles will boost your teen's metabolism because muscle burns more calories than fat stores, says Joyce L. Vedral, author of "Toning for Teens: The 20 Minute Workout That Makes You Look Good and Feel Great." Encourage your teen to use the weight room at her high school or take her to a local recreation center to use the weight equipment there. Make sure she is taught how to use the equipment safely. Show her how to start with smaller weights and work her way up to heavier weights. An alternative is to use hand weights or resistance bands in your home so your teen can still build her muscle definition and increase her metabolism. Vedral says that as your teen becomes stronger, her metabolism will continue to increase.
Exercise
In addition to strength training, aerobic and cardiovascular exercise is essential for raising your teen's metabolism, say Joseph C. Piscatella, Bernie Piscatella and William C. Roberts, authors of "Fat-Proof Your Child." Your teen needs to get his heart pumping on a regular basis to help speed up his metabolism. Inactive teens are often tired because a lack of exercise prevents their blood from flowing properly so they can burn calories and have the energy it takes to complete tasks. As your teen builds in more time to exercise he will experience and increase in energy that will also lead to an increase in his metabolism.
References
- Kids Health: Metabolism
- Kids Health: How Can I Speed Up My Metabolism?
- "Toning for Teens: The 20 Minute Workout That Makes You Look Good and Feel Great"; Joyce L. Vedral; 2002
- "Fat-Proof Your Child"; Joseph C. Piscatella, Bernie Piscatella and William C. Roberts; 1996
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