How to Get Fit for Overweight Teens

Teenage weight gain and obesity is becoming a major problem that affects the health of today's youth. WebMD.com says that more than "12.5 million" teens in the United States are overweight. By choosing fun activities that promote exercise, eating healthy, balanced meals and snacks and developing healthy lifestyle habits, an overweight teen can get fit.

Things You'll Need

• Balanced meals
• Drinking water
• Exercise
• Sleep

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Instructions

• 1

  Eat a balanced diet. Avoid eating greasy, oily and fatty foods and snacks. Eat lean meats, poultry, beans and lentils for protein. Always eat plenty of vegetables with every meal. Choose fruits as snacks instead of chips and cookies. Eat whole grain products rather then simple carbohydrates. Limit sugary drinks that have no nutritional value. Drink pure fruit juices or water. Include some dairy in your daily diet in the form of milk, non-fat yogurt or cheese. And no matter what you are eating, eat a reasonable amount. Eat enough to feel satisfied, but not so much that you are completely stuffed.

  Parents can look for ways to make their teenager's favorite foods healthier to make eating a dieting enjoyable for them.

• 2

  Drink plenty of water. Drinking enough water daily is important. Water is needed to properly digest foods and rid the body of non-essential fats. It also replaces fluids that are naturally lost from your body during the day. MayoClinic.com says, "The Institute of Medicine advises that men consume roughly three liters (about 13 cups) of total beverages a day and women consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) of total beverages a day." Overweight teenagers can use these numbers as a guideline.

• 3

  Do some form of exercise daily. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says, "Children and teens should participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity most days of the week, preferably daily."

  Almost anything that requires physical activity will work. This include sports, dancing, swimming, jumping rope, jogging, walking, playing tag, following an exercise video and more. Limit your time playing video games, surfing the Internet, watching TV and doing other activities that require little to no physical activity.

• 4

  Develop healthy lifestyle habits. Along with a balanced diet and exercise, overweight teenagers need to develop and maintain healthy-lifestyle habits. These include getting enough sleep, avoiding alcohol, drugs and smoking.