Healthy eating in schools

Introduction

Depending on their gender and size, a teenager needs to consume in between 2,000 and 4,000 calories each day. The biggest problem with teenagers is that they are prone to eat a lot of junk food, whether hanging out over the weekend or in school.

Also, a big problem seen in teenage girls is that they are often very worried about their bodies and their weight, and because of this, they will often refrain from eating foods such as meats that are essential for good health and nutrition.

Girls in high school will often skip meals while in school, but then let loose after and eat junk food, which is also a big problem.

It is also commonly known that the social environment of teenagers revolves around junk food. Whether eating burgers at the diner or popcorn at the movie theater, teenagers find themselves in many situations where they are prone to eat unhealthy food products.

This is the reason that we see more and more overweight teenagers in America every day. Eating healthy

Parents often have a hard time making sure that their children are eating well because they usually work all day and do not have time to monitor the eating habits of their children.

Even though food that is served in the cafeteria is not the healthiest possible choice, it is often the only one, and it is a lot better than getting all meals from the vending machine in the form of chips and soda.

A cafeteria lunch will at least offer all essential foods and the child that wants to eat a balanced diet will usually be able to do so in the cafeteria, even though most of the food will usually be loaded with saturated fats.

If a parent has time, they can pack a healthy lunch for the child. Leftovers from dinner last night are good, especially if the dinner was a healthy one. A sandwich with either lunch meats or some peanut butter will be better than giving the child five dollars to buy a couple pizza slices. Include some raw vegetables and fruit in the lunch as well for a healthy snack and make sure that the teenager is drinking milk, because it is essential for strong bones in a growing teenager.

It is also important to know what the child likes and then pack the lunch accordingly, because kids might just end up throwing the lunch away or giving it someone if they do not like what is being given to them.

It is important that the lunch offers all the vitamins, minerals and calories needed for a teenager to get through their very busy school day and be able to stay focused in class and in extracurricular activities.