Should teenagers ever diet


Being a teen in this day and age can be extremely difficult. Teens not only have to cope with study commitments, body and hormonal changes, social, family issues, but also the added pressure to fit in. It’s a lot to cope with for the average adult let alone someone who has not fully matured yet. Naturally teen are fairly self conscious with their new and every changing bodies. With maturity, a person can grow into their skin and let’s face it even many adults still get very self-conscious about their bodies. These days, teens are faced with social pressures to fit in as well as a constant media bombardment of unrealistic images. It’s no wonder teenagers are dieting and seeking various other methods to lose weight.




So the question needs to be asked ‘Should Teenagers ever diet’?

The first thing to consider is that teenagers are not fully developed yet. Teenagers are still growing so their nutrient requirements are different to adults. In fact the recommended daily intake for many nutrients is actually increased. Most diets often restrict certain food groups. While this is not ideal for anyone it can be a concern during periods of growth. Diets that restrict calcium for instance, can be a concern for a teenager to follow. Rapid bone growth occurs between 12 – 17 years and peak bone mass occurs between ages 16 -25. This means that the development of healthy bones at this age is critical for later in life and a restricted intake of calcium in the teenage years could lead osteoporosis later in life even if calcium intake was increased after this time 1.

Another worrying aspect about teens going on a diet is the psychological aspect of dieting. A diet can sometimes even quickly snowball into becoming an eating disorder, particularly with the added social pressure during teenage years. Teenage girls are very susceptible to this, but eating disorders are not exclusive to girls a larger number of boys are also developing this condition as well.

So letting a teenager follow a diet is not ideal but there is of course our growing obesity epidemic among the youth population, and is it any wonder with the tuck shop lunches and popular fast food hang outs.


If you have an overweight teenager should they be put on a diet?

It is probably not ideal for teenagers to do a typical diet in terms of restricting calories but rather change habits to develop long term healthy eating choices instead.  By changing a teen’s diet to a include a balanced intake of food with adequate lean protein, complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and not restricting vitamins and minerals this will naturally cause a shift in their weight to a healthy range without the risk of long term damage.

Posted in: