what is your thought on teenagers dieting?

danielgerman17
danielgerman17 Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you guys think that Teenagers shouldn't be dieting and doing all these special diet's like atkins and caveman diet's or raw vegan and stuff to lose weight? I personally think if your over weight yeah it's ok to lose a few pounds but don't restrict it so much like these diet's require because teenagers don't want to ruin there hormones and damage there thyroid and have tetosterone problems in the years to come, i think that if your a healthy weight teen I think it would be best to actually eat at a calorie surplus and gain 1-2 pounds a month and lift heavy at the gym and make some serious lean muscle for when you get to your adult ages before your metabolism and hormones start to decrease and get sloppy, do you guys agree?

Replies

  • Hexahedra
    Hexahedra Posts: 894 Member
    Punctuation helps.

    That aside, I think teenagers should not be doing any hard diet. There's no problem with them cultivating a healthy eating lifestyle, like eating more fresh fruits & veggies and avoiding junk or highly processed food if at all possible. Don't restrict calories, just eat smarter and exercise more.
  • stl_nana
    stl_nana Posts: 99 Member
    Punctuation helps.

    That aside, I think teenagers should not be doing any hard diet. There's no problem with them cultivating a healthy eating lifestyle, like eating more fresh fruits & veggies and avoiding junk or highly processed food if at all possible. Don't restrict calories, just eat smarter and exercise more.

    Agreed :)
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
    Teenagers shouldn't "diet" anymore than any other person should. I think teenagers learning about nutrition, exercise, and eating at a very slight calorie deficit compared to their TDEE isn't a bad thing if they are overweight.
  • branson101
    branson101 Posts: 173 Member
    I'm working on my son developing a healthier life including what he eats. He is slightly overweight (about 20-30 lbs) over what he should be for his weight. But I am monitoring him closely to ensure that he doesn't go overboard. A lot of it is parental responibility.
  • krissy_krossy
    krissy_krossy Posts: 307 Member
    Teenagers need to eat a reasonable amount like anybody else. No, I don't think teenagers should be on fad diets like Atkins, but I don't think anyone should, really. They're silly.
    I think that they should actually teach nutrition in schools so it wouldn't be such a big problem. I see all these campaigns to get kids outside but if they're stuffing their pieholes with doughnuts and sodas, it won't help much. All I had for nutrition was seeing "based on a 2000 calorie diet" on nutrition labels and thinking I should take in 2000 calories. Lack of education in nutrition or telling kids about "evil, bad foods" does more harm than them sitting inside all day, imo.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    women stop growing around 18 and men around 21 or even older (growth is not just about height, it's about internal organs, and the last bones to stop growing are the collar bones (clavicles) - so a young man will reach full height before his shoulders become as broad as they're going to be. And prior to reaching adult height, teenagers go through phases of very fast growth when they need more calories than a fully grown adult does. Boys at one stage in adolescence actually need double the amount of calories as a grown man.

    anyone dealing with teenagers should bear that in mind in the context of teenagers dieting. IMO it should be done under medical supervision only, same as with pre-pubescent children. Formulas for calculating daily calories, like you have here on MFP, are for adults, i.e. those who are fully grown already. They are not suitable for children. And that's something that's safe and healthy for adults (done properly with a moderate deficit) - fad diets that cut out entire food groups or cut calories very low, will be a lot more problematic for children and teenagers as they are for adults.

    Teenagers and children should, however, be learning about how to live a healthy lifestyle, i.e. eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise. But restriction of the quantities of staple foods should only be undertaken under medical supervision. Restriction of ice cream is one thing, but restricting calories or portion sizes of protein, healthy carbs, healthy fats, etc can potentially make a teenager's health worse. Let paediatric dieticians decide whether and how that kind of restriction should be done, so it can be done in a way that isn't going to affect the child's development in a negative way.

    And that's before you even get onto the psychological issues like eating disorders...

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