You know your teenager’s relationship with food is an important one, but they’re becoming more independent and making many food decisions on their own. From skipping breakfast to overeating, teens may go ‘off the rails’ when they get a little freedom. Teenagers may also eat more meals away from home and many of those meals can be less healthy choices, like fizzy drinks, fast-food, or highly processed foods.
A range of factors can affect your teenager’s eating habits. This includes what they see online and how your family and their friends behave around food. They can also be affected by stress, anxiety and bullying. Some teenagers eat a lot or eat anything; others are far more particular. It’s also common for their appetites to change at different ages and as they go through puberty.
Healthy eating during these teenage years is particularly important as their body is going through substantial physical and hormonal changes. Unhealthy eating, whether it is unhealthy food choices, overeating or erratic timings, can leave them feeling tired and struggling to focus, and they can have an unhealthy weight gain or loss.
It can be difficult to persuade your teenager to eat healthily, so here are four simple healthy eating tips you can try to help your teen eat better.
Even though you can’t control what your teen eats at every meal, you’re still providing most of the food they’ll eat, so have healthy snacks in the fridge they can ‘grab and go’.
To view this content, you must be part of a school which has access to My Family Coach.
