Nutritional Needs & Wants For Teens

Some teens have trouble meeting their nutritional needs because of a hectic school schedule and social commitments. Teen nutrition is especially crucial because the body is going through one of its most rapid stages of growth. Eating the right food will help you reach your maximum height, aid you in maintaining a healthy weight and give you strength and energy to tackle the demands of your day, according to the Center for Young Women’s Health.

Focus Foods

Aim for about 2 cups of fruit and 2 ½ cups of vegetables a day, recommends the Weight-control Information Network. Also get about 5 ½ ounces of protein from foods such as lean beef, chicken breast, nuts, soy, seeds, eggs and fish. Your grain intake should be about 6 oz. a day, but make at least 3 ounces of your grains whole grains such as whole wheat bread and brown rice. And while your fat intake should be about 25 to 35 percent of your calories, most of your fat should be unsaturated. Unsaturated fats are in foods such as salmon, avocado, olive oil and almonds.

Calcium

Your bones are the strongest they will ever be in your teens until you are about 30 years old, yet most teens don't get as much calcium as they should to support strong bones, according to the Dairy Council of California. Aim for about 1,200 milligrams of calcium, about 3 cups of low-fat or fat-free calcium-rich foods and drinks, on a daily basis to reduce your risk of weak and easily breakable bones later in life.

Iron

When you don’t get enough iron, you are at a higher risk of developing a condition called iron-deficiency anemia, which is when your red blood cell production and your production of the oxygen-transporting protein too low. Teen guys need iron to support their rapidly increasing lean body mass. Teen girls also need iron to support their growth, but even more to replace blood lost through menstruation. Aim for about 11 milligrams of iron a day if you are a teen guy and about 15 milligrams per day if you are a teen girl. Iron is in foods such as lean beef, fish, cooked dried beans, spinach and fortified cereals.

Limits

Added sugars increase your calorie intake but they don’t increase the nutritional value of your meals. Having too many sweets can also fill you up so you don’t have room for more nutritious calories. Watch how many added sugars you consume, particularly in sweet drinks such as juices and sodas. Simply drinking water in the place of one 12-ounce soda each day may reduce your calorie intake by about 150 calories a day, according to TeensHealth from Nemours. Saturated fats and trans fats are risky because they can build up into an artery-clogging plaque and increase your risk of heart disease. Saturated fat is often in animal products such as butter, whole milk and fatty red meats and trans fat is in baked treats, snack crackers and chips, certain types of margarine and fried foods.

Considerations

Let loose from time to time. Enjoy a piece of cake at a party or a piece of pizza in a class party. Forbidding your favorite foods will cause you feel deprived, lead you to crave them more and may increase your risks of binging. Slip-ups do happen from time to time. If you do find yourself accidentally eating more junk food than you intended to eat, let go of any guilt and make a plan to improve your eating habits in the future.