Teenagers & Healthy Eating Habits | Natural Health Blog
Date: 12/13/2011 Written by: Beth Levine
Teenagers are not known for having the best eating habits. Instead of nutritious fare, they tend more towards the empty calories of snacks and fast foods. One would hope that during these years while they are still living at home with their parents, they would possibly have a shot at decent nutrition. But the latest research, alas, shows that is not the case, at least not when it comes to eating fruit and vegetables.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the majority of teens in the United States do not consume the recommended daily amount of fruit or vegetables.1 The CDC researchers combed through the information gathered in the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study, which surveyed 10,765 high school students all around the country about what types of fruits and vegetables they had eaten in the past week and the frequency of consumption.
The survey showed that about one-quarter of the participating high school students ate fruit less than once a day and approximately one-third ate vegetables less than once a day (unless you count pizza as a vegetable, as the US Congress now does). The recommended amount of these foods for teenagers is 1.5 cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables for girls and two cups of fruits and three cups of vegetables for boys per day. And that's for teens who are getting less than half an hour of exercise daily, which is a whole other story. Clearly -- with an average intake of just 1.2 fruits and vegetables per day -- many of them are falling far short. >
Date: 12/13/2011 Written by: Beth Levine
Teenagers are not known for having the best eating habits. Instead of nutritious fare, they tend more towards the empty calories of snacks and fast foods. One would hope that during these years while they are still living at home with their parents, they would possibly have a shot at decent nutrition. But the latest research, alas, shows that is not the case, at least not when it comes to eating fruit and vegetables.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, the majority of teens in the United States do not consume the recommended daily amount of fruit or vegetables.1 The CDC researchers combed through the information gathered in the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study, which surveyed 10,765 high school students all around the country about what types of fruits and vegetables they had eaten in the past week and the frequency of consumption.
The survey showed that about one-quarter of the participating high school students ate fruit less than once a day and approximately one-third ate vegetables less than once a day (unless you count pizza as a vegetable, as the US Congress now does). The recommended amount of these foods for teenagers is 1.5 cups of fruits and 2.5 cups of vegetables for girls and two cups of fruits and three cups of vegetables for boys per day. And that's for teens who are getting less than half an hour of exercise daily, which is a whole other story. Clearly -- with an average intake of just 1.2 fruits and vegetables per day -- many of them are falling far short. >
Posts
5 Tips to Get Kids to Eat their Fruits and Vegetables!, http://www.kidfitnessandhealth.com/blog/?p=111
ReplyDeleteFood Fact: One mango will give you about half of your recommended daily allowance of both vitamins A and C, as well as some B vitamins, polyphenols and beta-carotene. Mangoes contain calcium, iron and potassium, are a good source of phosphorus, selenium, folate and zinc, and even contain 17 of the 20 amino acids that make up the human body. (But be careful, as mangoes are also high in fructose.)
ReplyDeleteDr. Joseph Mercola