Teenagers need healthful foods with plenty of nutrients to support their growing bodies, especially their bones. Most of a teenager's adult bone mass is established during the adolescent years. Your teen should consume calcium-rich foods to build strong bones, reducing her risk of osteoporosis as she ages. By eating foods low in saturated fat and trans fat, she also lowers her risk of developing adult diseases such as diabetes, high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Breakfast
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for teenagers who must focus and master cognitively challenging concepts. The brain is fueled solely by glucose, a simple sugar best provided by whole grains. A healthful breakfast of whole-grain carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats and calcium will sustain your teenager until he has lunch. If he skips breakfast, your teen will be ravenous by lunch and more prone to binging on high-fat, high-salt and high-sugar foods. Scramble two dozen eggs over the weekend to keep in the fridge so your teenager can easily spoon some into a whole wheat tortilla with ketchup for a quick breakfast wrap. Make oatmeal overnight in your crock pot so it is ready to eat at breakfast. Your teen can have his oatmeal with a side of scrambled eggs. Serve a tall glass of skim milk with his breakfast. Leftover spaghetti is also an excellent choice for breakfast, because it is slowly digested and rich in complex carbohydrates.
Lunch
The ideal lunch for a teenager is one you pack at home. The average school lunch period lasts about an hour, with some of that time spent waiting in the lunch line. School lunches are not always visibly appealing and may send teenagers running to the vending machines. Your teen may even leave campus for lunch, heading for a fast food eatery in which most meals are overloaded with refined carbs, sugar, fat and salt, leaving your teen stuffed and sluggish. Make sandwiches with whole grain breads, 2 oz. of meat and two slices of low-fat cheese. Use bruschetta spreads or tapenade -- a crushed olive spread -- in place of mayonnaise, as these are made with olive oil instead of vegetable oil and eggs; olive oil reduces the level of bad cholesterol and increases the level of good cholesterol in your teen's blood. Include peeled oranges and baby carrots for more vitamins, minerals and fiber. Send her to school with a hot meal using hot packs to keep her food warm and ready to eat.
Snacks
Snacks are essential between meals to maintain steady blood sugar levels. A teen needs something quick to eat as he walks between classes or before his sports practice. Prepare individual bags of a quarter-cup of unsalted nuts and a half-cup of pretzels or nuts and dried fruit. A granola bar with plenty of nuts and little sugar is also an ideal snack.
Dinner
Keep your refrigerator stocked with chili, rotisserie chicken, beef stew or hearty soups in case your teenager is ready to eat dinner before you get home. Ensure dinner includes plenty of vegetables like steamed zucchini, squash or broccoli. For convenience, purchase baked potatoes wrapped in plastic wrap, which only require about five minutes in the microwave then are ready to eat with chili, cooked chicken, stews and soups; you can also clean potatoes in advance and leave them for your teen to pop in the microwave.
References
- National Institute of Child and Human Development: Milk Matters
- American College of Sports Medicine: Fostering Healthy Weight in Youth
- "Exercise Physiology, Energy, Nutrition & Human Performance"; William McArdle, Frank Katch and Victor Katch; 2007
- "ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal"; Eat Like You're in Crete: Teach Your Clients the Benefits of the Mediterranean Diet; Janet Bond Brill, Ph.D., R.D.; September/October 2007
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