As parents focus on getting school lunches packed and dinner on the table, they may not notice serious teenage nutritional issues. Hectic schedules, popular convenience foods and body-image concerns all play roles in adolescent eating habits. When problems develop and remain untreated, teens potentially face nutritional imbalances for life. Consider how your children fulfill their dietary needs at home and school and while eating out to determine whether they fall prey to common poor eating habits.
Skipping Breakfast
Teenagers have academic and sports demands, and their performance is largely supported by early-morning nutrition. Skipping breakfast negatively affects mental and physical activity, with repercussions for grades and school attendance, possibly curtailing sports involvement. Regularly eating a healthy breakfast, however, is associated with healthy body weight and better nutritional status in adolescents, according to research reported in the May 2005 edition of "Journal of the American Dietetic Association."
Bone Fractures
Meal skipping and soft drink consumption are factors that contribute to calcium and vitamin D deficiencies in adolescents, especially girls, as the NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center relates. Teenagers need these two minerals daily to build critical peak bone mass up until adulthood. Without them, the NIH warns, they risk bone loss and bone fractures at early ages, with risks increasing later in life. Between ages 9 and 18, children should get 1,300 mg of calcium per day. Drinking fortified milk with three meals a day automatically provides the necessary vitamin D along with 90 percent of daily calcium needs.
Obesity
Lack of physical exercise combined with calorie overconsumption has made teenage obesity a serious public health issue. Access to fast foods and unhealthy vending machine snacks can cause a caloric imbalance that sedentary teens can’t overcome. The Office of the Surgeon General relates that overweight adolescents have a greater chance of developing incurable high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, conditions that require lifelong medical management. Additionally, teenagers who are overweight have a 70 percent chance of remaining so into adulthood, reports the Office of the Surgeon General.
Eating Disorders
Eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia interfere with normal adolescent development as they create complex mental health problems. Shortages of calcium and vitamin D caused by eating too little or purging food after eating create risks for inadequate bone density and peak bone mass formation, according to a clinical trial sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Additional nutritional shortages can cause heart and kidney disorders. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that most teens with eating disorders do not receive treatment to correct them. The resulting nutritional and developmental consequences may impact their entire adult lives.
References
- “Journal of the American Dietetic Association”; Breakfast Habits ... and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents; Gail C. Rampersaud, MS, RD, et al.; May 2005
- NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center: Kids and Their Bones, a Guide for Parents
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference
- Office of the Surgeon General: Overweight Consequences
- ClinicalTrials.gov; Effects of Anorexia Nervosa on Peak Bone Mass; July 2011
- MedlinePlus: Eating Disorders
