There are a lot of things that can get in the way of eating regularly throughout the day. Busy schedules, unexpected emergencies, lack of appetite, stress, access to food, and more could be playing a role in your eating patterns. There will inevitably be days when, despite your best efforts, your eating schedule is less than desirable, but it is important for teenagers to do their best to eat regularly throughout the day.
Teenagers should not skip meals and should do their best to fuel their body regularly throughout the day. Teenagers have high energy and nutrient needs. Not eating can result in nutrient deficiencies, low energy, moodiness, an imbalance in blood sugars, and stunted growth and development. Even when teenagers don’t feel hungry they should eat something every 3-4 hours during the day.
Read on for more information about why teenagers should eat regularly throughout the day, what they should be eating, and tips for eating when you are not hungry.
Why Is It Important to Eat Regularly?
Teenagers need to be eating regularly throughout the day. This usually looks like a combination of meals and snacks at least every 4-6 hours, if not sooner. Why is this so important?
- Going a long time without eating can lead to a drop in blood sugar which can throw off hormones and affect mood, stress levels, appetite, and more!
- Eating regularly helps you avoid getting to a point where you are absolutely famished. People are much more likely to overeat if they go too long without eating.
- Skipping meals or not eating can result in missing out on important nutrients that your body needs. Plus, when we get overly hungry, we are often drawn to less nutrient dense foods.
- It might be challenging to eat enough calories if you don’t eat regularly throughout the day. Your body can only eat so much food, so especially for teenagers with high energy needs, it is important to split the calories up throughout the day.
- Your body builds muscle best by getting protein in at regular intervals throughout the day. This is especially important for teenage athletes who are putting a lot of stress on their body through exercise.
Is It Bad For Teenagers to Skip Breakfast?
Okay, you can probably guess the answer to this question now that we have talked about how important it is to eat regularly throughout the day. Skipping breakfast is NOT a good idea for teenagers, or anybody!
Think about it this way. Your body has just been asleep for 8ish hours without receiving any energy. Your body is designed to do this. It needs that time of uninterrupted sleep. However, when you wake up in the morning and expect your body to go 100% without any fuel, that is a different story.
Breakfast truly sets the tone for the day. Many teenagers that claim to have low energy levels even later in the day actually start seeing a huge difference once they start regularly eating breakfast soon after waking up. Strong hunger cravings later in the day could also be related to not eating a balanced breakfast.
Unfortunately, many teenagers get into a routine of not eating breakfast. Some teens claim to not be hungry or feel sick in the mornings if they eat, while others are just too busy trying to get out the door. Regardless, it is so essential that teenagers eat something in the mornings as soon as they can.
What Should Teenagers Eat?
Teenagers should strive to eat a variety of foods from all of the food groups each day. This will help them consume all the necessary nutrients that their body needs. The US Department of Agriculture created My Plate where you can see more detailed information about the food groups and how much you should be getting of each based on your age and gender. Below are the general guidelines that will apply to most teenagers.
Fruits 1 ½ – 2 ½ cups of fruit per day is usually sufficient for most teenagers. 1 cup of whole fruit, 1 cup of 100% fruit juice, or ½ cup of dried fruit count as a 1 cup serving of fruit. Aim to get mostly whole fruits in their natural form which have fiber to help keep the gut regulated.
Vegetables 2 ½ – 4 servings of vegetables per day should be the goal for most teens. Things that count as a serving are: 1 cup of cooked or raw vegetables, 1 cup of vegetable juice, and 2 cups of leafy salad greens. Mix up what vegetables you eat each day!
Grains Most teens need 6-10 servings of grains per day. Athletes or those with high energy needs may need more than this. Try to make half of your total grains for the day whole grains. Things that count as 1 serving: 1 cup of dry cereal, ½ cup cooked pasta, ½ cup cooked rice, ½ cup cooked cereal, 1 slice of bread.
Protein Most teens will need 5-7 servings of protein per day. Protein is important for proper growth and development and is especially important for building and maintaining muscle. 1 serving of protein could be: 1 egg, 1 tbsp of nut butter, 1 ounce of meat, fish, or poultry, ¼ cup of cooked beans, or ½ ounce of seeds or nuts.
Dairy Teenagers are recommended to consume 3 servings of dairy each day. 1 cup of milk, soy milk, or yogurt, or 1 ½ ounces of cheese count as one serving. Try to choose lower-fat dairy options to limit your intake of saturated fat. Dairy products contain vitamins and minerals essential to bone growth.
Oils Around 20-35% of a teenager’s total calories should be from fat. Oils are a great source of unsaturated fats and are found naturally in nuts, avocados, seeds, fish, and some other foods. You can also cook and flavor foods with olive oil (one of the best oils to use). Since oils are also very high in calories, they should still be used in moderation.
Your body needs all of the nutrients from these food groups. Eating regularly throughout the day and focusing on nutrient dense foods to add will ensure that you feel your best.
What Should Teenagers Eat if They Aren’t Hungry?
But what if you are not hungry?! No one likes to force themself to eat when they aren’t hungry, but sometimes your body still needs food. Here are a few tips for getting energy and nutrition, even when you don’t have much of an appetite.
- Consistency is key. Your body will adjust over time and might actually start to give you more hunger signals as you get used to eating more frequently.
- Drinking is often more doable than eating when you do not feel hungry. Include things like milk, Carnation Instant Breakfast, smoothies, protein drinks, applesauce, kefir, 100% juice and other things to your meals and snacks if you don’t feel hungry (Especially at breakfast!)
- Eating something is better than nothing. It would be great to consume nutrient dense meals that have a balance of carbohydrates, protein, and fat throughout the day, but it is better to eat something, even if it is not super balanced, than to eat nothing at all.
- Keep snacks readily available so that you don’t have to cook something or think up something to eat. If you already do not feel hungry, having to do a bunch of work to eat does not sound very appealing. Do all you can to simplify the process. Here are a few examples of foods you can buy individually packaged to have on hand when you need to eat something.
- Dried fruit
- Nuts
- Trail mix
- Applesauce
- Pretzels and peanut butter
- Greek yogurt
- Protein bars
- Granola bars
How Much Should Teenagers Be Eating?
Energy needs will be different person-to-person. The charts below are based on the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and show estimated calorie needs for teenagers based on age, sex, and activity level.
While it might be helpful for teenagers to be aware of how much food their body needs, do not get too caught up in calorie counting. This can lead to obsessive thoughts about food and disordered eating.
It is more important that they develop a good relationship with food and with their body. Fuel your body appropriately by giving it food regularly throughout the day, but also listen to what your body is telling you because your calorie needs will change day-to-day.
Summary
Teenagers might think that they are just “listening to their body” when they are not eating and skipping meals. If they do not feel hungry at breakfast, it might be easier to just wait a few hours until you do feel hungry. However, your body still needs fuel regularly, every day.
Remember that this relationship with your body is a two-way one. Your body has to trust you and know that you are going to take care of it and give it the nutrition it needs, when it needs it. Then your body will feel safe and protected enough to also work with you and tell you what it needs!
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