Tweens are at a difficult, often sensitive stage in their lives. Their bodies are still developing, which makes healthy nutrition a priority, but limited perspective and a bounty of high-fat and high-calorie choices can make it particularly challenging for tweens to eat well. As such, parents can play an important role in modeling and encouraging healthy choices that can lead to wise lifelong habits.
Considerations
A healthy diet for tweens includes daily servings of the same foods that benefit adults, namely the whole grains, nonfat dairy, vegetables, fruits and lean proteins that MyPyramid recommends. Nutritionally, it's best for tweens to limit added sugar, cholesterol, trans fat, saturated fat and sodium and try to get most vitamins, minerals and nutrients from whole and natural foods rather than from processed products or prepared meals.
Breakfast
Eating a healthy breakfast activates metabolism in the morning, can help to keep energy up all day and may encourage tweens to make healthier choices or participate in more physical activity. According to the Mayo Clinic, eating breakfast regularly also decreases the risk of obesity. Healthy breakfast choices for tweens include oatmeal with baked apples, high-fiber cold cereal with skim milk and bananas or a nonfat yogurt parfait with berries and granola.
Lunch
Tweens who eat lunch at a cafeteria might have a hard time finding healthy food choices or passing up burgers and fries for more nutritious items. Deli sandwiches or peanut butter sandwiches with fresh fruit are healthy alternatives, and skim milk is one of the healthiest drink options. Lunches packed from home might include fresh veggies with hummus, a whole-grain sandwich and small dessert.
Dinner
At dinner, it's healthiest for tweens to have lean meats, fish, whole-grain pasta dishes, stir fries, low-fat casseroles and soups and stews that feature fresh ingredients. To gain an understanding of healthy portion sizes, KidsHealth urges tweens to remember that a clenched fist is about the size of a cup of food, which is a suitable serving of vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice or cereal. The site also encourages tweens to add no more butter or creamy dressing than the amount in the size of a thumb tip.
Snacks
To get the most energy and nutritional value out of their snacks, KidsHealth suggests that tweens and teens pair complex carbohydrates with lean protein, such as by eating whole-grain toast with peanut butter or cereal with low-fat yogurt. Other healthy snack choices include fresh fruits and vegetables, whole-grain pita with hummus or crackers with low-fat cheese. To avoid empty calories, tweens should steer clear of soda, sugary desserts and candy bars.
Tips
The Weight-Control Information Network encourages kids and tweens to learn how to read nutrition labels so they can evaluate food choices for health value. In an article for CNN, the director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Stanford University encouraged parents to be direct about health and weight issues with tweens who are overweight or obese. Parents can also involve family doctors in weight loss or health improvement efforts.
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