Safe Diets That Work for Younger Teenage Girls

Most teenage girls are sensitive about the issue of weight and dieting. Parents should be armed with knowledge of nutrition and losing weight to help their child to take off the pounds in a safe and healthy way. Fad diets can be dangerous, and starvation leads to nutritional deficiencies that could affect growth and development.

Nutrition and Planning

• Meal planning with your child is a good first step to helping take off the weight. This is an opportunity to teach about nutrition and the foods that should be included at every meal to lose weight safely. Plan a week at a time to ensure that your teenager is getting an appropriate number of calories and all of the vitamins and minerals that she needs to remain healthy.
  Breakfast is an important meal, and one that many teens skip in their rush to catch the school bus. Parents should stress the importance of breakfast and how it increases the chances of being successful on a weight-loss program.
  Good nutrition is all about making the right choices, and this will lead to healthy weight loss. A study conducted by the University of London found that 50 percent of the girls surveyed between the ages of 11 and 14 were dieting to lose weight. This high number of young teen dieters suggests that children should be taught nutrition in the early teen years.

Exercise

• Exercise is an essential component of losing weight safely. Encourage your teenage girl to walk or participate in physical-education activities at school. An exercise program does not have to be a chore. Help your teenage daughter pick an exercise that she finds enjoyable. These lessons can be carried into adulthood as well.
  Exercises that are fun and enjoyable are more likely to be participated in every day. Swimming, walking, running, playing a sport or working out with video tapes are all possibilities for a teenager who is trying to lose weight.
  Shut the television off and get your teenager up and moving to be successful in losing the extra pounds.
  Younger teenage girls are less likely to participate in school sports, according to the same University of London study. Encourage your younger teen to get involved with school sports while they are in junior high school.

Eating Habits

• Eating in front of the television or snacking while doing homework are examples of poor eating habits. Teach your teenager to sit at the table and focus on the food that she is consuming. This will teach your child to be aware of the foods that she is eating and the food portions. Eating when watching television or doing homework can lead to unintentional overeating.
  Skipping meals is another poor eating habit that should be discouraged. Many teens think that if they eat less and skip meals they will lose weight. This is a dangerous practice and could lead to nutritional deficiencies. Eating a well-balanced meal at every meal is a better and healthier plan for losing weight.
  Start early with children to reinforce good eating habits and by the time your daughter reaches the teen years the good habits will be completely natural.