Good Eating Habits That Girls Should Adopt

Adolescence is an age when the body is going through a lot of changes. It is a phase when the body is going through rapid changes developing the child to become a young adult. The appearance of secondary sexual characteristics can be seen in adolescent girls. It is during the teenage years when the child needs most of the nutrients as the child is growing, both physically and psychologically. As a parent of a growing child one needs to know what the needs of your child are.

During these years girls get more conscious about their body and self-image. Nowadays social media and society play a big role in influencing the girls to cut on calories, lose weight and becoming like actresses/models they look forward to. Mostly during the age of 14 to 16 girls get conscious and are vulnerable to bad habits. As a parent, one should keep a check on the eating habits of the child. Kids love eating junk and street food because it's cheap and easy to find. And in this era, where food delivery giants like Zomato and Swiggy have made it easier for people to get food delivered to your doorstep, it is a big problem which needs to be taken care of.

 A teenage girl requires a minimum of 1800 to 2400 calories in a day.

Some steps to inculcate healthy eating habits:

1. Communication: Communication is the key to successful parenting. As a parent, you should educate your child about healthy eating habits and how one should avoid junk. They should know what their kids like to eat. Let’s say, your daughter has a sweet tooth and she loves eating chocolates and sweets. Rather than taking away the chocolates, one can make healthy, sugar-free chocolates and sweets at home. Vice-versa if the kid doesn’t eat at all then the parents should again make sure the kid is eating the right food.

2. Breakfast: It is the golden rule, that if you want to stay healthy one should never skip breakfast. If a growing child in their teenage years skips breakfast then they will feel lethargic all day. They will not be able to concentrate on studies and often in teenage years kids get depressed and anxious, so make sure that kids are eating breakfast. Add eggs, nuts, and fruits for breakfast as its one of the healthiest things to eat.

3. Healthy Snacking: Often after a long day kids ask for snacks and munchies and most of the working parents don’t realize that the kid is eating junk, which is more harmful. Even if you are giving a healthy breakfast and your kid is eating snacks from outside then it’s a problem. To tackle this problem one can make it a habit to give raw vegetables as a snack. During summers we have so many vegetables and fruits in the market. Let it be mango, oranges, apples and carrots. These are a good source of vitamins.

4. 8 pm rule: It is advised that one shouldn’t consume heavy food after 8 pm, it is because your body works all day and after a long day if one eats more food then, the digestive system has to work more, due to which the kid may feel bloated in the morning.

5. Tiffin: Make sure that the kid is eating food given in the tiffin and not eating junk from the canteen or any other vendor when the kid is in school.

Though as a parent you should work on the eating habits of your child. But it is also important that you should make sure that:

1. Drinking-Water: One should make sure that the kid is drinking clean and enough water. As in the teenage years, one starts to get a lot of skin issues like pimples and acne due to which kid might feel conscious, so it is advised to drink 2-2.5 litres of water. When you drink a lot of water your skin feels hydrated and you don’t feel lethargic.

2. Alcohol and Smoking: We all know that these are bad habits and one shouldn’t do it but in the teenage years, kids are vulnerable and they learn from their surroundings. So make sure you as a parent don’t drink and smoke and have a little eye on the kid’s friends circle. We are not saying to disturb her privacy but make sure that the kid has the right kind of friends. Who positively influence her?

3. Right Ingredients: We all know that mothers make food with love, but in today’s world when everybody is trying to cut costs and make money. It is difficult to find ingredients that are in the market without any mixing. Especially milk and fruits which are a good source of vitamins and calcium are often injected with chemicals. So make sure you buy genuine and organic products.