• Presentation
• Which food aspects should I consider during my adolescence?
• Which foods should I consume during this stage of my life?
• Which type of food could be harmful to my health?
• Which food is essential for me at this age?
• Do I nourish myself right when consuming the so called "fast food" (hamburgers, fries, fried chicken) or other similar food?
• If I normally eat at school or university, how can I assure a balanced diet?
• Which diseases can I contract through bad eating habits?
• How do I find out if I am underweight, overweight, have the tendency to obesity or weigh just right?
• Which are the most common eating disorders?
• Will I notice whether I suffer anorexia or bulimia?
• Is following a strict diet the one and only way to loose weight?
• Do I have to consult a physician if I decide to loose weight or go on a diet?
• Which aspects do I need to consider before starting a diet?
• How many kilos can I get rid of in one week?
• Can I eat sweets, cake or cookies during my diet?
• How will I be able to maintain a diet if everyone else at home keeps eating as usual?
• Could my overweight or tendency to obesity indicate that I have diabetes?
• Can I go on a diet although I suffer diabetes?
• Which is the best time to start a diet?
• Do I have to take pills in order to loose weight?
• Are diuretics helpful in loosing weight?
• Can I take laxatives in order to loose weight?
• If my mom and/or dad are obese, will I be the same?
• Which nutrition criteria do I need to consider if I am pregnant?

A healthy and balanced diet is crucial for the adolescent age because it is the stage of a human's life when the foundations for the future physical health are laid.

The author of this work is the professional María Graciela Marcel Ahumada. She studied at the University of Chile and possesses extensive experiences in her specialty, in the field of public hospitals as well as of private clinics and she achieved great results with young and older patients that were under her treatment.

In the following text that was especially made for this Portal, the author will give advice and orientation through the question and answer method.

As you already know, during the period of adolescence there are numerous physical and biological changes. Therefore you should adjust your diet well to this stage of your life as it brings along a higher expense of energy.

Your diet should be well balanced. This means that your meals should be a variety of healthy things that grant the necessary nutrients.

You need to be careful with high energy foods such as sugar that is found in a lot of soft drinks like coca cola or in cookies, jam, ice cream, cake, pies and flavored additives you use to mix with water.

Another good idea is to reduce the salt, meaning that you don't add to much extra salt to your meals. Exaggerated use of salt will cause an increased blood pressure. Remember that most produced foods do already contain salt, like fries, peanuts or crackers, among many others.

Alcohol is another thing you need to be very careful with. It could well contribute to obesity because of the great amount of calories it has, especially beer that has its origin in the fermentation of barley sugar and thus contains a fair amount of carbon hydrates.

All. The thing you have to learn well is to determine the right amount and at what time you eat which. If you know about the food pyramid, which use is recommended by the international health organs, you will see that it indicates the variety and proportion for those foods you should consume during the day.

It is recommended to mainly consume the foods found at the basic of the pyramid: bread, rice, cereals, pasta, vegetables, fruits, milk products, fish, poultry and meat. And less of the top levels of the pyramid: oil, butter, dried fruits, sugar and jam, among others.

Since you are in a process of growing and developing, make sure to take different foods out of each food group. Your nourishment needs to contain the necessary nutrients and energy in order to obtain a good health state.

Generally, the foods themselves aren't harmful as long as you know their origin, especially of processed products. Those should fulfill the international standard of hygiene, holding of additives and preservatives and handling.

To prevent that certain food causes health problems, like overweight and obesity, it is necessary to know how to combine and select them. For instance, to eat food that is high in fat (animal fats in particular) and to combine it with other foods that are rich in sugar and carbon hydrates, can cause an increased level of cholesterol in the blood, heart diseases and obesity.

If you don't know the origin or processing of a food, it is better not to eat it. The consumption of products of dubitable origin could provoke - principally if contaminated - certain diseases of the digestive tract. These manifest themselves through diarrhea that can reach an alarming state. In case of cholera, hepatitis, typhus or intoxication you run danger of life if correspondent medical treatment isn't sought in time.

It is necessary that you eat a variety of food throughout the day. You should consider the health pyramid and select them carefully respecting their proportions. This way you will achieve a balanced nutrition that meets the needs of your age.

You should increase the amount of vegetables and fruits. They are rich in vitamin C and carotene that work as antioxidants in our organism, preventing certain illnesses like stress and arteriosclerosis (accumulation of fats in the arteries). For their dietary fiber they contribute to prevent obesity, cancer of the intestine and they decrease the level of cholesterol.

It is important that you use vegetable oil because they contain unsaturated fat-acids that diminish the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The unsaturated fat-acids have essential characteristics protecting us from the requirements of the Omega 3 Alpha Linolenic Acid (LNA) and the Omega 6 Linoleic Acid (LA).

Olive oil, olives and avocados are rich sources in order to get these unsaturated fat acids.

It is recommended to decrease the consumption of fats that are animal based because of their relation to the increase of the cholesterol level in the blood.

Respecting meat, it is preferable - though it doesn't say you shouldn't eat meat - to consume fish o poultry for their excellent contribution of high quality proteins, iron and zinc without increasing the consumption of saturated fats.

Drink milk that is low in fat. It will provide you with sufficient calcium that is necessary for covering the needs of your organism at this age and will assure successful growth and increase in weight.

It?s important to know that 99% of the calcium is found in forming part of the skeleton tissue and during the stage of adolescence, the one you are going through right now, maximum bone mass is reached that will determine the sensitivity regarding the development of osteoporosis (bone fragility), especially in women.

It is also advisable, like it was said before, to moderate the consumption of salt and sugar.

If fast food constitutes the only thing you eat during the day or if it does become a kind of habit, you certainly nourish yourself wrong because with this type of food you will never get the necessary nutrients, vitamins and minerals your body needs.

It is not only a one-sided and unbalanced nutrition but also high in saturated fats (carbon hydrates) and sugar and the excessive consumption of this food puts your organism at risk, provoking heart diseases, obesity, diabetes and increase of the cholesterol in the blood, among other things.

It is ok to eat fast food every once in a while, in moderation so that it doesn't ruin the balance, making sure that you eat a variety of things out of each food group you find in the food pyramid.

If there is the chance to choose you need to select your meal well, eating at least one portion out of each food group.
If there doesn't exist a dining hall at your university or school that offers meals, you should eat well for breakfast and take something with you to eat during the day or buy something for lunch that consists of meat, vegetables, bread, one milk product, fruit and water or natural fruit juice to drink.

If you have bad eating habits, saying that you don't get the essential nutrients in order to meet the demands of your organism, you could provoke eating disorders for lacking of an important nutrient or vitamin. These disorders are seen frequently at your age and principally affect your physical and biological development. Normally it is the case of vitamin deficiency.

Young people like you have generally a dislike for milk, fruits or vegetables, but they are essential as they provide you with minerals and vitamins. These elements are directly involved in the metabolism, formation and development of the skeleton tissue.

You can use the so called Body Mass Index (BMI). You only need your weight and height.

1. Multiply your weight (in pounds) by 704.5.
2. Multiply your height (in inches) by your height (in inches).
3. Divide the first result by the second.

Example:

If you're 5'3" and weigh 120:
120 x 704.5 = 84.540
63 x 63 = 3.969
84.540 divided by 3.969 = 21.3

Now, looking at the classification of the BMI, you will find out where you are:

Less than 20 = underweight
20 – 25 = healthy
25 – 30 = overweight
more than 30 = obese

Among the most common eating disorders you find the anorexia (lack or loss of appetite for food) and bulimia (excessive appetite).

From a nutritional viewpoint, both have more similarities than differences and are determined by the evolution of a daily caloric consumption, something only a nutrition specialist should evaluate.

The case of anorexia, food consumption is reduced to a minimum and can turn into a chronic malnutrition with serious consequences.

People that have bulimia can have normal weight, overweight or get thinner. The symptoms are hardly visible during a physical examination but are related to a recurring vomiting.

The most frequent characteristic of bulimia is the excessive consumption of large food amounts.

Anorexia and Bulimia are eating disorders that need to be medically, evaluated from a psychological viewpoint as well and be treated by a nutrition specialist. The more and earlier assistance of a specialist is sought, the less are the possibilities of serious health harm.

Normally the start of an eating disorder happens fast and unconsciously so that it is hard to notice when your eating habits turned into an eating disorder.

In the case of anorexia, you notice an excessive loss of weight.

Eating disorders are mostly associated to problems or situations where your self esteem and autonomy come into play.

For instance, changing school, loosing a loved person, family crisis, among others, are factors which can trigger anorexia or bulimia. The moment - in protest, as a rejection or escape - you decide to stop eating or you start having unstoppable and uncontrollable hunger.

Both cases provoke an alteration of your organism, perhaps without you noticing, causing a negative eating habit that will drive you into a serious crisis of anguish that affect not only your organic stability but also your mental stability, involving also your family and friends.

In the case of an adolescent like you, the beginning of anorexia will generally be hidden and the symptoms of this disease will only be visible once anorexia has already reached an advanced level. The moment you stop eating your eating habit will change and end up in a disease.

Both, anorexia and bulimia are diseases that happen fast and unrecognized. They are characterized by a lack of controlling the impulses in the moment of being confronted with a meal. Indubitably and in most cases it is a psychological reason that triggers such situation.

If you show any of the following symptoms, I recommend you to consult a doctor or nutrition specialist:

1. You are discontent with your body and especially concerned about your weight.
2. You restrict food consumption and/or are very selective with food.
3. You reject certain foods.
4. You control your weight constantly.
5. You have excessive interest around food and nutrition and often ask for diets, medication or other ways to control your weight.
6. You try to compensate your food consumption in order to avoid gaining weight through vomiting, taking laxatives or exercising in an exaggerated manner.
7. You show a tendency to neglect, trivialize or hide your restrictive eating habit.
8. You feel isolated, you withdraw or avoid eating with your family.
9. You don't sleep well, notice alterations in your mood or feel general symptoms of anxiety.

Firstly you should check if your overweight is due to a situation of your organism that would then need medical assistance. This would be, for example, the alteration of the hormonal system.

If you only have a slight overweight problem, saying that your current weight doesn't exceed 10% of your ideal weight, it is enough to revise your daily diet and moderate the amount and the times you eat, best are 5 small meals a day that are well balanced and varied.

Don't be surprised about the 5 meals a day. An investigation has shown that a frequent, well balanced and moderated diet does not cause gaining weight but contributes to its equilibrium.

You will achieve this equilibrium by choosing carefully one food of each food group of the food pyramid.

You should be aware that a diet doesn't mean you have to cancel certain meals or foods. If you intent to restrict your food consumption you must do so only under medical and nutritional supervision of a physician.

The suppression of certain foods provokes a different organic disorder and it is well possible that you do not loose weight. Therefore it isn't sufficient to just follow a strict diet. You also need to evaluate your activity and change your sedentary lifestyle that is a very common cause of overweight at your age.

It is always better to consult a physician so he/she can determine why you show characteristics or signs of obesity. Besides it is important to rule out any other organic problem that could be the main cause for your overweight problem. It is also recommendable visiting a nutrition specialist to arrange a diet proper for your age, stature and physical activity that contains the amount of calories your body demands.

First of all you need to ask yourself why you want to put yourself on a diet and whether it is really necessary to do so. If you are a bit overweight, it is mostly sufficient to change eating habits and physical activity.

Secondly, if it is only about a slight overweight, you should be aware of the calories that are really necessary for your body, in accordance with your age, stature and activity in order to avoid restrictions that would be harmful to your organism. That is why it is always better to consult a doctor or nutrition specialist.

And, thirdly, it is very important that you do it on your own will and possess the persistence to undergo a diet. Only this way you will achieve a positive change in your eating habits. If you don't, you might live your life, go through various diets but never achieve the desired results.

If the diet has been calculated in accordance with your age, stature and activity and you strictly follow the instructions, you can loose up to 1.5 kilos per week.

In the first 4 weeks there is always more weight lost. But it is not recommendable reducing the weight in an indiscriminate manner. With a well balanced diet you can easily loose 4 kilos in one month. It depends on your perseverance and own will how you achieve your ideal weight.

The consumption of foods that are high in sugar during a diet will depend on what the specialist says. Generally those foods will be restricted or entirely canceled in accordance to the degree of overweight you have.

Firstly, a diet at your age, as I have said before, should be recommended by a physician and arranged by a nutrition specialist. This way you assure that your family knows you are simply doing something your health requires.

But just because you put yourself on a diet, doesn't mean the ones that live with you will have to do so as well. What you need to do is select your meal in accordance with what you have been told. Generally the family is supportive when a member needs to follow a special diet.

But, applying the tables to measure your ideal weight, you notice that you are under or overweight and decide, with the authorization of your parents or whoever may be responsible for you, to put yourself on a certain diet, you should establish a plan of the meals you eat. Remember, they ought to be well balanced, proper for your age and should coincide with the eating habits of your family in order to avoid futile disorders.

Not necessarily. But it is important that the young people like you start to take care about this matter early. Ask your mom and/or dad if there are any cases of diabetes in the family, if they suffer it or if your grandparents have or had diabetes.

Diabetes is partly inherited. This indicates that children or grandchildren of a family where there are antecedents of diabetes have a high percentage to suffer it as well.

If that's your case, saying if a family member or other relatives have diabetes, you shouldn't be overly alarmed. But it is important that you do a laboratory exam, either asking your parents to arrange it for you or applying for it at your school that would check your blood sugar level. This way you will find out if there is the chance of suffering diabetes.

Suffering diabetes - that needs to be medically diagnosed - it is fundamental to follow a diet that regulates the consumption of sugar (carbon hydrates).

You should be aware that sugar is contained in most foods in a usual amount, like pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, fatty meat, butter and some types of margarine, among others.

If you have diabetes at your young age and are overweight with tendency to obesity or getting thin, you need to consult a nutrition specialist that will set up your dietary schedule. Through restricting or increasing certain nutrients you can change the treatment of your disease.

On the other hand, the specialist should determine the level of diabetes you have. According to this specification you will establish your diet.

There are no specific dates to start a diet. That depends on your well-being, on the medical indication telling you that you need one and on your willingness to do it and to push it through.

No. You will loose weight if you do not consume more calories that your body, according your age, stature and activity, needs. For instance, if you do any type of exercise or are an athlete, your energy loss is higher than of a person that leads a sedentary life. This is why it is always best to consult a specialist that would calculate the ideal consumption of calories for you.

Sometimes the physician does recommend pills but this depends on the diagnosis that he/she will do about your tendency to obesity.

Generally, the pharmacies are only recommended by the physician if the origin of your overweight or tendency to obesity is not only an eating disorder.

Under no circumstances must you take any medicine that hasn't been prescribed by your doctor or follow the advice of friends that recommend some sort of "complementary food" - natural pills or pills based on natural components - that help you loosing weight or inhibit your appetite. You run health risk if you do so.

Don't use them in order to lose weight. To use them without a medical prescription will cause serious disorders like dehydration and kidney problems, among others.

Don't use them in order to loose weight because they can cause serious intestinal disorders.

Children of obese parents do have a higher percentage of being obese as well. Therefore it is important to take care of the relation between age/height/weight from childhood on, to develop well balanced eating habits and to realize physical activity.

If you are a young lady in gestation you should:

1. have the best balanced diet possible.
2. select at least one meal out of each food group of the food pyramid.
3. increase the milk consumption (best is skimmed milk) and dairy products low in fat, red meat low in fat, fish, poultry, fruits, cooked and raw vegetables.
4. moderate the consumption of salt.

It is important for you to remember that you do not have to eat for two because this could cause an increase in weight that would do you more harm than good. But neither does it mean that your diet should be careless. The opposite - it is essential to reinforce it.

It is very important that young ladies that are pregnant take good care about their nutrition, especially since they are in the process of physical development. Their organism has more demands for growth and at the same time for the preparation to generate the conditions for the growing baby. That is why there is a higher demand of nutrients for a girl that is pregnant than for a girl that isn't.