Teen Weight Loss: Are Kids Too Young To Go On A Diet?

Teens, parents and others who have to deal with the teen weight loss issue asks a very pointed question - Are kids too young to go on a diet? If you look at Hollywood celebrities, you may find that many of them will put their children on diets. Some diets are good for children, some are not. A number of diet programs are good in educating people about eating certain foods or eating their brand of foods while some popular diet programs are very good to explain portion sizes. They also realize that children need different portion sizes than adults. Not all are experts with children's dieting needs though. Today's teen weight loss agenda has children knowing the amount of fat and sugars in the foods they eat as well as learning how to count the calories in the food. However, many children do not understand what this is all about or how to go about picking healthy foods.

Pediatricians view teen weight loss through their growth charts that show the child's body mass index and the normal ranges. If the child is above and outside the normal range they may suggest diet and exercise. Pediatricians know that teen obesity is linked to illnesses such as asthma, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and even sleep disorders. The overweight or obese teenagers are advised to go on a good teen weight loss diet plan to help them learn how to eat better.

Unless the weight loss is to help a child avoid one of those health issues, most experts agree that children should not diet. What should teens do to remedy their weight issues? They need to instead be taught the difference between "dieting" and simply eating right. Teen weight loss issues can be dealt with through proper eating and exercising habits. The fact is that people who "diet" for the sake of losing weight, tend to always have weight issues than those who just change their eating habits.

Teen weight loss "diets" tend to create more problems than help. Because, if teenagers are dieting, they probably aren't giving their body enough nutrients. When they grow up they can be victims of nutritional deficiencies, such as low in vitamins or minerals. Some of the issues that can stem from teen weight loss diets are delayed puberty, osteoporosis and even stunted growth. It is so important to make sure that any diet is one hundred percent nutritionally complete. Teens need extra calcium and many diets will have them skipping the dairy products.

Most teen weight loss diet plans are probably not even meant for children. Any diet needs to include a well balance of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, good fats and lean meats in order to receive all the vitamins and minerals necessary to maintain good health. It's a matter of changing the eating habits by stopping the junk foods and focusing only on foods that are healthy. Teen weight loss will happen if you skip eating junk foods and sugars and are eating a well-balanced variety of healthy foods instead.