If your 15-year-old has expressed an interest in losing weight, don't be alarmed. Your teen is smart to keep an eye on her weight, as long as she maintains a healthy weight with a nutritious diet and a regular exercise program. Although crash diets may provide quick weight loss, they are not a healthy or sustainable way to lose weight. Talk to your child's doctor before she changes her exercise and diet plan.
Forget the Crash Diet
Crash or fad diets are quick-fix diets that make outrageous weight-loss claims. Although it may be possible to drop a large amount of weight in a relatively short time, your teen will feel hungry, deprived and tired if she follows a crash diet. Most crash diets involve eating limited quantities of low-calorie foods. Even if your teen does lose weight while following a crash diet, she will gain the weight back as soon as she starts eating normally again. Talk to your teen about why crash diets are ineffective before she starts cutting calories.
Cut Out High-Calorie Foods
Instead of cutting all your teen's favorite foods out of her diet, make modifications. If your teen's favorite food is macaroni and cheese, make the dish with low-fat milk, low-fat cheese and whole-grain pasta as a healthy, lower calorie alternative. Encourage your teen to swap out sodas, sugary fruit drinks and sports drinks for seltzer and plain water. Even though your teen is technically eating the same quantity of food every day, she'll be consuming fewer calories, which may aid weight loss.
Exercise With Friends
If your teen doesn't enjoy exercising, find ways to make it fun. Suggest a brisk walk after dinner instead of sitting on the couch, watching TV. Challenge your teen to a tennis tournament -- if she wins, promise a fun reward, like a trip to the movies. Your teen may have more fun when she's exercising with her friends. If she doesn't know anyone else who enjoys being fit, sign her up for a sports team at school. She'll make new, active friends and lose weight at the same time.
Make It Permanent
After your teen loses a few pounds, don't let him go back to his old eating and exercise routine. Instead, encourage him to continue his healthy habits. If your teenager goes back to his old habits, he'll most likely gain all the weight he worked so hard to lose. Focus on diet and exercise as a long-term solution to lose weight for life. This way, your child will learn that losing weight may be hard work, but it's also rewarding.
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