Mommies Magazine

Four Bad Food Habits in Teens

Posted on 16. May, 2009 by Mom Mag in Health

When you have a baby, it is entirely dependent upon you to feed them foods that are good for them. You are the one that determines their early eating habits. As they grow, you begin to let them make their own food choices. As they reach their teenage years, there are four main bad food habits that many teens share. Luckily you can still influence them and possibly help them change their bad eating habits.

1. Teens often don’t eat a balanced diet, which is one bad food habit you may be able to help them change. In fact, many teens choose to eat more foods from the smallest portion on a standard food pyramid than they do fruits and vegetables.

What is in the pinnacle of the pyramid? Usually foods such as snack cakes, potato chips, and other high-calorie, high-fat foods. As a parent, you can choose what foods come into your home by what you purchase at the grocery store. Instead of snack foods, buy fresh produce that you can wash and have available for snacks. This will help your teen, but also everyone else in the home, develop better eating habits.

2. Many teens sleep in as much as possible and then skip breakfast, which is a bad habit for teenagers to get into. It has been reported that more than two-thirds of all teenage girls and more than half of all teenage boys don’t eat breakfast. Since the body has been without food during sleep, it’s important to begin the day with a healthy breakfast. To ensure your teen eats a good breakfast each day, make the food easily accessible so they can make breakfast quickly and eat it before leaving for school.

3. Another bad food habit that many teens have is drinking too many soft drinks each day. It used to be that teens would drink juice, water, or milk. Nowadays, they consume far too many soft drinks, increasing from 37% in 1978 to well over 50% in the late 1990s. Having other beverages available and not buying soft drinks to drink at home will encourage your teen to break this bad food habit.

4. Eating while watching television is another bad food habit that teens are often guilty of, as well as many adults. Unfortunately, eating while watching television can distract you to the point where you’re not aware of how much you’re actually eating. You may also choose foods that aren’t the most healthful. You can decide to not purchase snack foods to keep in your home, but rather offer only fresh fruits and vegetables.

While you’re not going to dictate to your teen what they can and can’t eat, that doesn’t mean you can’t influence them to break these four bad food habits. Good nutrition is important to maintain health, give energy to accomplish goals, and live a fulfilled life. Maybe you won’t be able to get your teen to change all of their bad food habits, but even changing one bad habit in exchange for a good one can make a world of difference in your teen’s health and quality of life.