4 Bad Food Habits Teens Have and What Parents Can Do About Them

By Denise Witmer, About.com Guide As teens become more independent in their food choices, they tend to make the wrong choices - even teens who were brought up eating healthy. Here are the four worst food habits teens have and what you can do about them: Skipping breakfast is the leading bad food habit for teenagers. According to the American Dietetic Association, more than half of male teens and more than two-thirds of female teens do not eat breakfast on a regular basis. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating breakfast can upstart your teens metabolism, which helps with weight control, mood and school performance. You can ensure that your teen eats a healthy breakfast by making the foods readily accessible to him. Make it a part of your routine to put breakfast on the table and sit with your teen while you both enjoy a healthy breakfast. The next unhealthy food habit teens have is increased foods from 'other' food group. Think of the food pyramid, the 'other' food group is the smallest section at the top with what is supposed to be the least amount of servings. Teens tend to eat too much high fat and calorie snack foods that are categorized in the 'other' food group. You can help teens break this habit by having fruits and healthy snacks available more often than having high fat and calorie snacks available. It is easier to grab a bag of chips at the grocery store then picking up a bag of oranges and remembering to wash, quarter and put them out on the table during snack time. But the benefits to your teens health are worth the effort. Increased eating outside of the home is another bad food habit teens have. Teens hit the fast food restaurants much more often then they did when they were younger. This tends to be because of school, sports and work schedules overlapping regular meal times. To circumvent this bad habit, talk to your teen about only eating fast food once a week. Then make dinner and healthy food available to him when he has the time. This is as easy as fixing a plate for him and allowing him to heat it up when he gets home from his sports practice. Last, but not least, in this list of bad food habits is soft drink consumption. A study looking at American youths aged 6-17 found an increase in the prevalence of soft drink consumption from 37% in 1978 to 56% in 1998. You can help your teen choose a healthier drink by having fruit juice and water available and not buying soda. Or try fruit flavored carbonated water instead of soda. My teens really like these. One common denominator for getting teens to eat healthier and avoid these bad food habits is your active role in providing healthy foods. When you get in the habit of making these foods more readily available to your teen, you will see a change in their eating habits.

Denise Teens Guide

Witmer

FOOD HABITS IN THE WEST IDIES

Health Issues
In the Caribbean region, nutrition-related chronic diseases are common, threatening the well-being of the people of the islands. In the 1950s, the governments of the Caribbean were concerned about the malnutrition that permeated the region. They were able to increase the protein and calorie needs by making meat, fats, oils, and refined sugar more available. The health and nutrition initiatives introduced helped curbed the malnutrition, but new and related health and nutrition problems began to emerge. The health administrators of the Caribbean region are concerned with the rise of iron-deficiency anemia in pregnant women and school-aged children due to inadequate iron intake and poor absorption . The increased incidence of diabetes , hypertension , coronary heart disease , cancer , and obesity , especially in the thirty-five-and-over age group, is thought to be directly linked to the existing lifestyle and dietary practices of the islanders. The Caribbean Islands have seen a proliferation of fast-food restaurants, and the increased consumption of meals high in fat , sugar, and salt has contributed to the increase in chronic diseases. In addition, there has been a reduction in the amount of cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, tubers, and legumes that are eaten. The popularity of fast foods among the young has led the government to focus on improving nutrition in the schools. Also contributing to the health problems is the dependency on costly imported processed foods that do the body harm. Overconsumption of imported foods high in fat and sodium has led to a deterioration of the health status of people throughout the region, with an increase in health problems such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Innovative Programs
Due to insufficient resources and less than adequate planning, the school feeding programs on most of the islands exhibit many shortcomings. However, on the island of Dominica, where a self-help initiative involving the parents was introduced, the eating habits of school-aged children improved and the parents and communities

adopted many of the program's menus and preparation methods. As a result, school attendance increased and the attention span of the children in class improved. School nutrition programs need constant monitoring to improve the nutritional status of the children involved. Furthermore, a good nutrition promotion campaign must be designed to educate and promote a healthy lifestyle for the population at large. The Caribbean region has the tremendous task of putting in place appropriate policies, plans, and programs to address the changing health and disease patterns of the region's people. This effort is made more difficult because of the socioeconomic, political, and cultural differences among the Caribbean countries. The various countries must not only examine the food availability and how it is consumed, but they must also assess and evaluate the quality of the food and the nutrition intake of those most at risk. The Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI), established in 1967, aims to improve the food and nutrition status in member countries, which include Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Christopher-Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. The governments of the Caribbean have come together under an initiative called Caribbean Cooperation in Health. They hope to work closely together through five types of activities: service, education training, providing information, coordination, and research. The food goals of each country must be analyzed, with care and attention paid to the agricultural policies and economic opportunities in each specific country.

WEBQUEST Read the articles and look for the following pieces of information: 1. List as many bad food habits as you can. 2. Which part of the population is particularly dealt with? 3. What are the consequences of such habits?

4. What can be done /advised to solve the problem? 5. Who can help?