Teen Nutrition

Around 30% of teens in the U.S. are overweight or obese (as of 2003 for general surgeon report). Many teens are worried about their weight and want to try to gain control over it. So the simple answer that most of us think of is, go on a diet. Some people take these definitions on diets to the extremes or just think that it is too hard. So they end up going down the path of other eating disorders or keep on that same track. Most teens know the basics on like how the food pyramid and how many servings a person should have. But most people don’t know how big one serving is. But teens have different dietary suggestions than that of the U.S. food pyramid. Some parts are smaller some parts are bigger. This dietary guide is for teens that are moderately active with at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day.

Grain Servings: a person should eat around 9-11 servings of starch a day
The best forms of starches are the grains that are in their pure form like whole grains or brown rice
One serving of starch is around:
One slice of bread
1/3 of a scoop of rice
½ bagel

Fruit & vegetable servings: 5-7 servings
Fresh fruits are the best, sundried or naturally dried fruits are ok, but you should try to stay away from sweetened fruits or fruits that are doused in sugars
One servings is about ½ a cup diced of vegetables and fruits

Proteins servings: 4-6 servings
Best sources are from nuts and fish. Beefs and others are filled with proteins but beef and pork are filled with bad cholesterol and saturated fats so try to control how much you eat.
Protein servings are around the size of a deck of cards

Dairy servings: 6-8 servings
Best comes from milk or calcium fortified OJ because vitamin C helps assimilate calcium. Yogurt is good but ice cream should be controlled.
One serving:
1 cup of milk
a cup of yogurt

Fats: 3-5 servings
There are two types of fats saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are fats that are solid at room temperature and are found mostly in fried things or chips. Unsaturated fats are the fats that are better for you and are found in natural oils like olive oil, corn oil, or sunflower oil.
One serving is around 2 tablespoons of oils