Balancing the Scales Podcast

If your teen seems to be on a fast food streak reminiscent of “Supersize Me” or if he guzzles Big Gulps throughout the day, you’ve probably worried about the consequences of these behaviors. Today’s food environment has kept up with the demands of our multi-tasking schedules and is saturated with options for on-the-go eating. Unfortunately, quick foods are rarely health foods and, even worse, we have become accustomed to the colossal portions that epitomize convenience meals. To complicate matters, foods advertised as healthy may not be as nutritious as they are touted to be.

Despite all of the challenges to keeping your teen healthy, your home food environment contributes most to what and how your teen eats and making small, consistent nutrition changes can have long-lasting benefits. Most parents end up playing nutritionist, food police, and short-order cook in an effort to keep their families on track.

Healthy Eating Road Blocks

Why don’t teens heed the good advice we give them when we say, “eat your veggies” and “don’t skip breakfast”? Most teens know what healthy eating is all about, but our society puts up all kinds of road blocks that keep teens from eating well. In addition to being surrounded by unhealthy foods, teens are bombarded by advertisements for these foods. Teens are especially vulnerable to the effects of junk food advertising, since they now make more decisions about their daily menus than kids in previous generations.

It is no coincidence that nutrition is making more headlines than ever before. Today’s teens are forced to pay more attention to their eating habits than teens of previous generations. The toxic food environment they are living in is unlike that which previous generations experienced. Just 20 or 30 years ago, junk food filled only one aisle at the grocery store; now soda alone has its own aisle. Fast food used to be an occasional family treat, now it is an everyday reality. In the past 20 years, bagels and muffins have doubled in size and the portion of a regular serving of fries and a tub of movie popcorn have tripled. Drink holders in cars have even expanded to accommodate 32- and 64-ounce drums of soda.

Adolescent Nutrition Matters

Those hectic schedules and increasing autonomy make healthy eating a significant challenge at a time where nutrition really matters. Energy needs are high during the adolescent years to fuel growth and the development of body tissues such as muscle and bone. “Adolescence is one of the most dynamic and important periods in healthy development,” says Karen Peterson, DSc, RD, Associate Professor of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. “Teens' unhealthy lifestyles can heighten the risk for chronic conditions, but adolescence is also a window of opportunity to launch a healthy transition to adulthood.”

What teens eat influences their risk of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and osteoporosis later in life. Of more immediate concern is the high prevalence of nutritional disorders during adolescence. About 17% of adolescents are overweight and another 15% engage in disordered eating behaviors such as self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse, binge eating, diet pill use, extreme caloric deprivation, and excessive exercise. Although these problems are relatively common, the majority of parents are not dealing with extreme nutritional problems; they are involved in the ongoing daily battle to keep their teens well nourished.

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Issue: July 2007