Adolescents are under a lot of pressure to fit in among their peers, something that is largely influenced by physical appearance. Besides peer pressure, teenagers are exposed to a multitude of media messages that emphasize trends to influence teens. Often, these messages depict thin models and are generally geared toward girls. This type of social environment can make it difficult for teenagers to understand how important proper nutrition is for well-being and may lead to the belief that dieting is necessary to fit in.
Dieting Reasons
Teenagers can see dieting as a way to change their image. Often looking better takes priority over eating for your health. If a teen is at a healthy weight for her age, she may still think she looks fat and needs to lose weight. A teenager who is overweight or obese should consider dieting but often does not know how to go about it the right way. In both scenarios, a teen needs someone she can talk to about her self-esteem and what she should do.
Teen Dieting Insight
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, about half of teenage girls and a quarter of teenage boys have tried dieting to change their physical appearance. More than a third of these girls had a healthy weight for their age when they decided to diet. In general, teenagers who decide to try a diet have lower self-esteem than teenagers who do not diet. These teens tend to be unhappy and feel fat, regardless if they are healthy or not. Furthermore, they feel isolated from their family and not in control of their lives.
Types of Diets
The types of diets that most teenagers a drawn to are fad diets, such as the Atkins Diet or Lemonade Diet. Fad diets rarely work and can actually cause teens to gain back more weight after they stop the diet than they may have initially lost. According to OverweightTeen.com, teenage girls who diet frequently tend to gain an average of 1.7 lbs. more per year than girls who do not diet. Teenage boys who diet frequently, tend to gain 2.2 lbs. a year more than those who don't diet. The most likely reason for this is that dieters tend to overeat between diets.
Healthy Weight Loss
There are proper ways teens can go about losing weight in a healthy manner. Certified pediatric dietitians can devise a healthy meal program that incorporates essential nutrition and limits the amount of daily calories. A healthy eating lifestyle focuses on a variety of foods, a daily breakfast, no overeating and lots of water instead of soda or juices. Teens can also create a fitness plan. Staying active is important to help keep weight off and develop overall health and physical endurance. Physical activity is also an ideal distraction from turning to food.
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