Determine the Diet chart for Adolescents?

For adolescents, other than points covered above, there are two more important points of considerations.

• Inanition
• Fad diets

Inanition actually refers to exhaustion from lack of nourishment; starvation. May teenagers rarely relate today's food habits to tomorrow's health? They have a notion of 'desirable' body shape and 'ideal' body weight which is not their true ideal body weight for height. Some girls imitate a model or a celebrity whose weight was say reported in press to be 37 kg. They purposely starve to maintain such a weight. Very often they might miss meals at home, often skipping breakfast and lunch altogether, whereas during this time of peak growth velocity, adolescents usually need to eat often and in large amounts.

On the other hand, fad diets are common especially among boys. For girls, fad diets are selected to make them lose weight and for adolescent boys for muscle building, broadening shoulders, waist narrowing etc. Simple nutritious diet, rich in iron, plenty  of fruits and vegetables, low fat and low sucrose diet with plenty of exercise and  sports can in fact ensure good physique and long term good health. Some simple nutritional guidelines for children and adolescent are highlighted next.  You may advocate these eating habits among children and adolescents.