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Adolescent
Quick Facts
Teen growth and
development at a glance:
- There is a wide
variation when adolescents will enter puberty and undergo the change
in growth and development known as the “growth spurt.”
- On average, teens
add the final 15% of their adult height.
- During the teen
years, 45% of the body's skeletal mass is formed.
- Fifty percent
of adult weight is added during adolescence.
- The rate of weight
gain during adolescence corresponds to growth in height. In boys, peak
height velocity occurs with peak weight velocity. In contrast, peak
weight velocity in girls occurs 6 to 9 months before height rate changes.
Because peak weight occurs before peak height in girls, some parents
and teens become concerned about teenage girls’ weight. Because
weight loss during this period may affect ultimate adult height, dieting
is not recommended.
Implications
for eating habits
With all the current
emphasis on childhood and adolescent obesity, it is critical that teens
learn that they do need more calories to fuel their growth and development.
Total nutrient needs are at a lifetime high during the teenage years and
many nutrients, such as protein, iron, zinc and calcium are needed in
greater amounts to build muscle and bone. Teens are notorious for choosing
“empty calorie” foods which are high in calories, fat and sugar
but limited in vital nutrients. Encourage teens to chose mostly healthful
foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy sources
and lean protein foods.
Adolescent boys,
in particular, need the maximum number of servings from all five food
groups, including 11 servings of grains (emphasizing whole grains), 4
servings of fruit, 5 servings of vegetables, 3 servings of dairy and 3
servings (or a total of 7 ounces) of protein-based foods such as eggs,
beans, tofu, lean meat, chicken, turkey and fish.
Source: Spear BA.
Adolescent growth and development. J Am Diet Assoc. 2002 Mar;102(3 Suppl):S23-9.
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Teen
Focus: Small Group Activities
Role
playing in small groups is an effective way for adolescents to learn
to think critically and enhance decision-making skills. Use scenarios
such as the ones listed below to allow teens to brainstorm and devise
creative solutions to nutrition-related issues.
Encourage teens
to discuss each situation and develop brief skits that demonstrate how
they would deal with the problem or situation. Emphasize that there
are no right or wrong answers.
- (For this activity,
provide a variety of popular "teen" magazines.) Look at the
advertisements in this magazine. Describe the type of models that are
used. Do you see a lot of variety in the body types and sizes of the
models? If you were in charge of designing these ads, would you make
any changes? Describe.
- What kinds of
vending machines are in your school? Would it be possible to put together
a healthy meal and/or snack from these machines? If you were in charge,
what foods would you stock in the machines?
- Your friends found
a new diet in a magazine. They are excited because the diet claims that
you can lose 10 pounds in a week! You can eat as much lettuce and diet
gelatin as you want, drink diet soft drinks and eat one chicken breast
a day. They are all going on this diet. What would you tell your friends?
- You are baby-sitting
for two small children down the street, ages 4 and 6. What type of meals
and snacks would you plan for them? How would you handle it if the children
refuse to eat? Does it matter if you sit down and eat with the children?
- Keep track of
the types of food ads that you see on television. Design and perform
your own ad for a food (or food group) that is healthy.
- Most teen girls
fail to get enough calcium in their diets for healthy bone development.
Devise a skit which illustrates this problem, the consequences and various
solutions.
- You gave up on
organized sports in 4th grade. It became too competitive and you weren't
having any fun. Since then, you can't seem to find time for physical
activity in your day. Brainstorm ways to find the time for enjoyable
fitness activities each week.
- You learned in
health class that breakfast fuels your brain and contributes to better
grades. But you are always too tired to get up in time to eat and besides,
you aren't hungry in the morning. Brainstorm ways to fit breakfast in
your morning.
- You are worried
that your best friend has an eating disorder. You don't want to lose
her friendship so you don't really say or do anything. Is this a good
plan? How do you think you can be of help to her? Who can you ask for
advice?
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NEWS
IN BRIEF
Overweight
adolescents less able to compensate for extra calories in fast food
meals
A recent
study showed that while fast food meals resulted in increased caloric
intake for both lean and overweight adolescents, the lean teens were
better able to compensate for the extra calories by eating less the
remainder of the day. Regardless of weight, teens exposed to large fast
food meals ate too many calories relative to their needs. The researchers
note that the increase in fast food intake appears to be in tandem with
the obesity epidemic.
Source: Ebbeling CB, Sinclair KB, Pereira MA, Garcia-Lago E, Feldman
HA, Ludwig DS. Compensation for energy intake from fast food among overweight
and lean adolescents.JAMA. 2004 Jun 16;291(23):2828-33.
Many
adolescents remain overweight into adulthood
This
report from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health shows
that during a 5 year transitional period between adolescence and young
adulthood, the proportion of adolescents becoming and remaining obese
into adulthood was very high. The study authors concluded that that
this upward trend is likely to continue if effective preventive and
treatment efforts are not implemented.
Source: Gordon-Larsen P, Adair LS, Nelson MC, Popkin BM. Five-year obesity
incidence in the transition period between adolescence and adulthood:
the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Am J Clin Nutr.
2004 Sep;80(3):569-75.
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The
information contained in this newsletter is not intended as a substitute
for medical and/or nutrition advice. See your physician and/or registered
dietitian for individual health and/or dietary concerns.
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©2004,
by Connie Evers, All Rights Reserved. There is a modest reprint fee
for reproducing the material in this newsletter in either print or electronic
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