According to a 2010 study in the "Journal of the American Medical Association," around 17 percent of adolescents and children are obese, and 32 percent are overweight. If you are 13 and overweight, increasing physical activity and eating foods with fewer calories each day are the best ways to lose weight over two months.
Find Out if You Are Overweight
Although many teenagers are overweight, you may not be one of them. Some 13-year-olds feel bad about their bodies and may try to lose weight even though it is unnecessary. To find out if you are truly considered overweight, weigh yourself on a scale and have another person measure how tall you are. Enter your weight, height and birthday into the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen (see References). The calculator will tell you whether you are underweight, at a healthy weight, overweight or obese. If you are underweight, do not take any steps to lose weight. If you are at a healthy weight, you also do not need to lose weight, but you may benefit from exercise to increase your physical fitness. If you are overweight or obese, visit your doctor and take steps to change your eating and increase your physical activity.
Balance Your Energy
When you are overweight or obese, it means that you are eating more calories than you are burning through physical activity. A calorie is a measure of the energy level of food. A 13-year-old female should eat foods containing 1,600 to 2,000 calories per day; a 13-year-old-male should consume between 1,800 and 2,600 calories per day. The reason for the large range in calories is due to differences in physical activity; those that are more active require a greater number of calories. If you are overweight and wish to lose weight, you will need to consume fewer calories than what you are now eating each day and increase your physical activity. Over the course of one week, if you can cut 500 calories per day through exercise or eating less, you will lose 1 lb. To remain healthy, your weekly weight loss goal should not be more than 2 lbs.
Eating Better Foods
It is important to make good choices about the foods you eat. There are some foods that are high in calories -- like fast food, desserts and sodas. Other foods, like fruits and vegetables, have fewer calories. To lose weight, you need to reduce the foods high in calories and add more foods that are low in calories. Find a low-calorie food that can replace a high-calorie food that you like to eat now. For instance, if you like ice cream, eat chilled fruit instead. If you like salty potato chips, replace them with low-calorie popcorn. When your family shops at the grocery store, help pick out low-calorie foods that you like.
Increasing Physical Activity
Engaging in more physical activity is very important if you are overweight and are trying to lose weight. There are some activities that burn many calories, like running, playing tennis or soccer, and bicycling. Regularly doing these types of activities will help you lose more weight, but adding any type of physical activity to your daily routine will help. If you do not exercise at all right now, try to add small amounts of physical activity to your daily routine, like walking.
References
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Prevalence of High Body Mass Index; Cynthia L. Ogden, et al.; 2010
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. BMI Percentile Calculator for Child and Teen
- National Institutes of Health. Balance Food and Activity.
- LIVESTRONG.COM MyPlate: Calorie counter, calorie tracker and food journal
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