Is It Healthy For Teens To Diet?

Teens get conflicting messages about body image and fast food. Ads featuring thin, fit models run side by side to ads promoting large quantities of fast food or unhealthy snacks. Although some teens diet by inappropriately cutting calories, your teen can lose weight safely by learning new eating habits and making healthy lifestyle choices.

Identification and Risks

Obese teens make up 18 percent of the United States teenage population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An overweight teen is one whose BMI is between the 85th and 95th percentile when compared to other teens his age. An obese teen has a BMI greater than 95 percent of his same-age peers. Overweight and obese teens may experience teasing, bullying, low self-esteem and have an increased risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers as adults.

Expert Insight

Some health professionals recommend that teenagers lose weight mainly through making healthier lifestyle choices rather than following a strict, prescribed diet. A January 2011 study published in the "Journal of Obesity" examined other research on the effectiveness and safety of weight-loss programs for teens. The researchers concluded that teaching teens how to maintain a weight loss and making lifestyle changes in order to lose weight is an effective way for teens to lose weight.

Weight Loss Strategies

Support your teen through the weight loss process. Make meal planning a family affair so your teen does not feel alienated. Use the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans to determine a healthy calorie level and ensure he eats an adequate amount of healthy foods. Rather than counting calories, serve your teen low-calorie dinners of salads, grilled meats, whole wheat rolls and fruit or frozen yogurt as desserts. Give him choices of healthy snacks such as nuts, popcorn, carrot sticks, reduced-calorie crackers and light cheese, fat-free yogurt and flavored rice cakes. Encourage him to pack his lunch at school and teach him how to select low-calorie choices at fast food restaurants. Eating a healthy breakfast of cereal, omelets or 1/2 a bagel with fat-free cream cheese will help him stay full during his morning classes.

Warnings

Teenage girls are more likely to diet unnecessarily and develop poor eating habits, according to a September 2005 article published in the "Scientific World" journal. Teen girls and boys frequently demonstrated a skewed perception of whether they were at an appropriate weight. Help your teen lose weight if needed, but monitor her progress carefully and be alert for signs of unhealthy eating, excessive exercise or purging behaviors. Work with your teen's pediatrician to monitor her weight loss progress, and encourage her to be more physically active as a way to lose weight in a healthy manner.