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Teens on diet and in numbers
70% of teenage girls try to diet from time to time. According to Canadian nutritionists from the University of Laval, every third of nine-year-old girls at least once tried to limit themselves in food for the sake of losing weight. At the same time, girls’ ideas about diets are peculiar. For example, they can declare meat or milk as “enemy No. 1”. Vegetables or cereals. For weeks they sit on regular “Bonn soups”, Japanese diets, arrange fasting days and hunger strikes. All this, of course, leads to an imbalance of nutrients on the menu.
The deficiency is usually vitamins, minerals, protein and complex carbohydrates – and this shortage immediately manifests itself in the form of a variety of problems. Experts from (UK) have calculated that 46% of girls receive too little iron, which causes anemia. The menu does not have enough magnesium and selenium, which is why girls often have a bad mood and a headache.
Many people basically do not eat fatty fish, do not drink milk. Only 7% of teens eat 5 servings of vegetables, as recommended by nutritionists.
Overweight girls 13-15 years old really have – every third. Others just think they are fat. There is little to do: learn to separate the imaginary from the real and understand what will help get rid of extra pounds reliably and painlessly.
Girls and hormones
At 11-12 years old, before the first menstruation appears, girls begin to grow rapidly and gain weight. They are about 2 years ahead of boys in development, so they sometimes seem too large and overweight compared to their classmates. This is physiological, completely normal – but the girls are embarrassed by such a difference in weight categories. They want subtlety and fragility, like the heroines of glossy magazines and instagram. Naive children often do not even know about the wide possibilities of Photoshop. As well as the fact that if by the age of 13-14 the girl does not gain the required amount of kilograms, her transformation into a girl will be delayed and the hormonal background will be knocked down. Hormonal changes require great strength from the body, therefore, it is dangerous to starve during this period. And it is not necessary.
Girls stop growing 2 years after their period. If they do not gain more weight, the problem of extra pounds will disappear by itself: with the same pounds, they will become slimmer with increasing growth.
Body mass index
If the young lady has finally grown, and thoughts about extra pounds remain, it makes sense to determine the body mass index. This is not difficult to do: it is equal to the body weight in kilograms divided by the height (in meters) squared. An index of 20-25 units is considered normal. If the norm is exceeded, you need to get rid of excess weight. But smoothly and unhurriedly: the matter of losing weight does not tolerate fuss.
Eating and eating behavior of a teenage girl
A 13-15 year old girl should “eat” 2-2,5 thousand calories a day. She needs protein and vitamins, since at this time hormones are synthesized in her body. This means that you cannot refuse meat, vegetables and fruits. You can limit fats and carbohydrates. It is impossible to completely abandon them – they are needed by an actively developing brain. It is better to forget about fried potatoes and grilled chickens from the supermarket, about sausages and sausages – there is a lot of fat, about dumplings, pizza and mayonnaise. Try to do without buns, cakes, chips!
If you want something sweet, it is better to eat marmalade and marshmallows. They are high in sugar, but low in fat. And this is very good for losing weight. Or dried fruits – they are very high in calories, but at the same time they are extremely useful.
You need to eat 3-4 times a day, but in small portions. Be sure to have breakfast, how to have lunch, snack on unsweetened yogurt or cottage cheese before dinner. Dinner should be rescheduled for 6-7 o’clock in the evening and later do not look into the refrigerator. Everything we eat before bed turns into fat.
And, of course, you need to move more. Everyday. Walk for an hour at least, swim, ride a bike in the summer and ski in the winter. Dance. To play tennis. This brings the body tired of school into tone – and when the body is in good shape, the processes of burning fat are activated in it.
IMPORTANT: sit less at the computer and sleep more – according to recent studies, lack of sleep leads to a set of extra pounds.