31 ANTON MEDIA GROUP • NOVEMBER 29 - DECEMBER 5, 2017
CAMPS&SCHOOLS
17A
Keeping Your Kids Healthy
Essential tips for teen nutrition
BY JENNIFER BERKOWITZ
specialsections@antonmediagroup.com
What does a healthy teen lifestyle consist of? The topic of nutrition has always been a relevant and much-needed area within our schools, particularly at the middle and high schools. Education is proving to be a must in order to understand the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and it starts right at home. It is important for teens to be aware of the nutrients needed to fuel their bodies. Healthychildren. org states that protein, carbohydrates and fats in food serve as the body’s energy sources. The right vitamins and minerals are also essential. Adolescents in the United States are proven to
get twice as much protein than they actually need. In fact, 50 percent of their body weight is actually made up of protein. Teenage favorites such as beef, chicken and turkey are just some of the foods that are stocked full with protein. Next is a carbohydrate, which gets converted into the body’s main fuel, the simple sugar glucose. Nutritionists recommend that complex carbohydrates make up 50 percent to 60 percent of a teenager’s caloric intake. These complex carbohydrates provide sustained energy, particularly for the teen that is active. This explains why you might see athletes or marathon runners eating big bowls of pasta before an event. Simple carbs, on the other hand, have little to offer besides tasting sweet
and providing a brief burst of energy. Therefore, it should be minimized in the diet. Fatty foods contain cholesterol, a waxy substance that can clog an artery and eventually cause it to harden. Regardless of if a teen is active, a high fat intake will always make them put on weight. It would take a lot of grueling effort to try to burn off excess fat calories day after day. An important tip is to read food labels carefully to see how much fat, sugar, and sodium is in the foods eaten every day. Also, almost all packaged goods that contain fat are likely to have partially hydrogenated fat, because it has a longer shelf life. A well-rounded diet based on the USDA
see TEEN NUTRITION on page 18A