Nutrients are wrapped in tasty food packages.  Besides being enjoyable, your food choices also have a major effect on your health!  The dietary guidelines put those facts about nutrients into advice about healthful eating – for your teen years and for your lifetime! 

            The dietary guidelines for Americans provide advice about food choices for all healthy people age two and over.  The guidelines can aid you, your family, and your friends in making food choices for wellness.  Follow them to help you meet your nutrient needs, to reduce your chances of getting certain disease, and to live a healthful, active life. 

            An eating plan, also called a diet, includes everything you eat or drink.  The dietary guidelines offer recommendations to get the nutrients and food energy you need for wellness during your active, growing teen years.  Following the guidelines now may also provide benefits as you get older – your chances for developing some health problems may go down. 

Keep Trim, Keep Active 

            Staying at your appropriate weight and being active throughout life – these are two basics for fitness!  This advice helps you be more productive, enjoy life, and be your best in all you do.  Active living helps you use food energy, too.  That’s one way to keep your body weight at an appropriate level. 

            While you’re a teen, your body is growing rapidly.  You will be putting on weight as your body develops and as you grow taller.  Weight gain needs to be looked at in relation to your overall growth and physical development.  Keep in mind that your body is changing from that of a child to that of an adult. 

            As you get older, being overweight with too much extra body fat increases your chances for heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, arthritis, and other health problems.  Keeping an appropriate weight throughout life is wise. 

            When your overall food choices provided more calories than your body uses, the extra calories get stored as body fat. On the flip side, if your body uses more calories than you eat, you may be underweight.  For the weight that’s right for you, balance how much you eat with how many calories your body uses.  And stay active!  To be active: 

• Enjoy at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity on most days.  Aim for 60 minutes. 
• Look for active ways to have fun, such as dancing or in-line skating. 
• Move more in your daily life.  Use stairs.  Walk with your friends.

             Variety is important.  No single food or type of food provide all the nutrients you need in the right amounts for a day.  Enjoy many different foods for all the nutrients and healthful substances they provide.  Besides, eating a variety of food means you get to enjoy different flavors, textures, colors, aromas- and have more fun!

Tags: active, dietary guidelines, trim, weight