Nutrition Cafe > Understanding Teenage Eating Habits You Are What You Eat Does it seem like your appetite changes frequently? Do you wonder if you are eating too much or too little? Do all the changes in your body mean you should be eating differently? This interesting period of your life known as adolescence, means you do have to pay attention to what you eat and general nutritional guidelines for your age group. For most girls, the adolescent growth spurt begins at age 10, peaks at age 12 and usually ends around age 15. For boys, the growth spurt begins around 12 to 13, peaks at 14 and then usually ends around age 19. During this growth spurt period, you may experience all kinds of changes in your weight, fat distribution, height, and even energy level. All of these changes are affected by the food that you eat. As a general guideline, teenagers should be following the Food Pyramid. As an experiment, write down everything you eat during a 24 hour period. Then classify the food according to milk, protein, fruit, vegetable, cereal or fat/sugar. Now check to see how closely you followed the recommended guidelines: Fat and Sugar -- Use sparingly Milk, yogurt, cheese -- 3 servings Meat, poultry, eggs -- 2-3 servings Vegetables -- 3-5 servings Fruit -- 2-4 servings Bread, cereal, pasta, rice -- 6-11 servings Of course, most foods (pizza, for example) contain foods from several different groups at the same time. A few pieces of pizza contain servings of bread, cheese, vegetables, and meat, depending on the type of pizza. The ingredients also may contain fat. You can discuss your specific questions about nutrition with your doctor and your parents to see if you have any special nutritional needs at this time and to help you plan a healthy diet just for you. Of course there will be times when you "pig-out", eat too many fried foods, or lose your appetite for almost everything. Just make sure that most of the time you are paying attention to what you are eating and how it fits into categories above. Nutrition is part of the overall health of a person. Now is the time to learn to eat as healthy as possible to build habits that will pay-off throughout your life. Source: TeenGrowth.com < Back to Nutrition Cafe