Nutrition knowledge is such a powerful tool for lifelong health, but sometimes it seems like teenagers don’t really understand the importance. And even if they do understand the basics of nutrition, it doesn’t always translate to wanting to make improvements in their eating habits. This can feel frustrating to parents as you want your kids to live a healthy and fulfilling life.
If you have a desire to help your teenager improve their nutrition knowledge, the first thing to do is have an understanding of basic nutrition yourself so that you can model good eating behaviors at home. Also be sure to get teenagers involved in meal planning, shopping, and preparation. Learning tips and advice from home is the best way to help teenagers. Websites like ChooseMyPlate and books like Intuitive Eating can be great resources for teenagers as they work on developing their own relationship with food.
Read on for more about how to talk to teenagers about nutrition, and resources for teenagers to learn about and improve their eating habits.
Do Teenagers Learn Nutrition in Schools?
The answer to this question is going to be very different school-to-school. Yes, there is supposed to be some nutrition education taught in schools, usually in health and science classes, but that doesn’t mean the information is necessarily complete or empowering.
Dietitians spend years learning about nutrition, and techniques for counseling people and discussing eating patterns. Teachers in schools do the best they can, but they don’t always have the same background to understand all the complexities of eating. Additionally, school curriculums are so fast paced and it can be challenging to take time to make sure everything gets covered in enough detail.
Teachers and coaches are focused on teaching basic nutrition principles, but how those principles are applied to each individual teen is where it gets a little harder. Most of the time teenagers do not get the individual attention that they need for topics like nutrition- so they do need supplemental help to be able to put the basic principles into practice.
How to Teach Nutrition To Teenagers
The best way to teach about nutrition is through example. Teenagers are very perceptive of what is going on around them and they pick up habits and beliefs that they are familiar with.
Eating nutritious foods is important, but having a good mindset around food is the best case scenario. Parents that have a negative relationship with food are actually more likely to pass that on to their kids. If you notice you say anything like this around your kids, take some time to reevaluate the messages about health and nutrition that you are sending.
- “I am being so bad for eating this.”
- “This is my guilty pleasure food.”
- “I will have to run a few miles to make up for all this food!”
- “I need to start a new diet.”
- “I can’t eat that- I’m on a diet.”
- “I’m already over my calorie goal for the day.”
- “I just need to eat less and workout really hard to lose weight.”
- “I hate being sick, but maybe I will at least lose some weight.”
- “I have been so good today, I deserve this treat tonight.”
Some of these phrases have become so common that we say them without even realizing that they can be harmful to young people that are listening. Instead, speak about all foods in a positive way, without labeling them as “good” or “bad.”
If you feel confused on how to talk to your teenager about healthy eating without making them feel bad about themselves or about their body, here are a few tips.
- Model a good relationship with food. Pay more attention to what you are eating, and how you are talking about food. Refrain from talking about foods as “good” or “bad.”
- Make a variety of nutrient-rich foods always available, but don’t force teens to eat them.
- Talk about the benefits that different nutrients have on the body. For example, if your teen mentions that they are really tired all the time, maybe you can talk about whole grains and how they have carbohydrates that fuel the body as well as B Vitamins that help with energy metabolism.
- Make mealtimes a happy and safe place where positive conversation is had and good memories are made.
- Do not comment on body weight. Even complimenting someone’s body can have negative effects on their eating patterns and on how they feel about themselves.
- Talk about how you feel when you eat certain foods. Maybe ice cream was just what you needed after a long day, or those vegetables you have been incorporating have helped you feel more energized throughout the day.
- It is okay to not know everything! Share what you learn about nutrition through your own experiences and ask your teenagers to share what they have learned about foods based on their own experiences.
- Invite teenagers to help plan, shop for, and prepare meals. Teens are much more likely to try new nutritious foods when they have put in some of the behind-the-scenes work into preparing it.
- Choose your teaching moments wisely. Maybe the day that your teenager comes home in tears because they are stressed out is not the day to talk about how they should be choosing healthier snacks rather than chips.
- Encourage teens to talk about the eating experience. Give them time to focus on what they are eating and enjoy all of the sensations associated with eating a meal. This will bring more mindfulness to their eating as well.
The Best Way to Learn Healthy Habits as a Teenager
Here’s my best tips for improving your nutrition knowledge as a teenager:
- Start to learn to prepare your own food
- Help with meal planning and grocery shopping at home
- Notice the different colors, shapes, textures of food on your plate
- Learn some of the vitamins and minerals that are in different foods and why they are important. (i.e. spinach has potassium which is important for heart and muscle health)
- Eat a variety of foods and don’t be afraid to try new things
- Understand that the habits you make today will affect your health long term
- Don’t believe everything you see or read on the internet and social media (there are some interesting nutrition trends and ideas out there)
If you want to start implementing healthy habits, getting a basic understanding of nutrition and your body is usually a good starting place. However, if you are to just Google “how to be healthy,” you will probably find a lot of confusing and conflicting information.
The internet can still be a great tool for learning about nutrition- especially if you have specific questions. I recommend that you look for a website or article written by a registered dietitian because they are nutrition professionals. I also recommend looking at many different resources to find the information that is agreed upon by most professionals in the field.
Sometimes doing the work to get good information is hard to do and time consuming, especially when you are looking for quick answers to important questions. This is why I encourage teenagers to work with a registered dietitian.
A registered dietitian will be able to work with you wherever you are at in your understanding of nutrition and answer the individual questions that you have. They can teach you about your body and basic nutrition principles, but also apply those principles to you and your individual situation. It is so much easier to build healthy habits when you have someone guiding you and helping you on your way!
One of my tips for teenagers that want to learn healthy habits is to really pay attention to your body. This doesn’t mean you focus on what your body looks like, but instead, pay attention to how your body feels when you move your body a certain way or when you eat certain foods. Pay attention to how your body responds to sleep and stress levels and anything else that can provide helpful information!
Having a good relationship with your body is a huge part of health and wellness. A dietitian can be extremely helpful in helping you develop healthy habits, but they will need your expertise too- you are more of an expert on your body than anyone else!
How to Get Teenagers to Care About Nutrition
If you have tried to force your teenager to eat healthy, it likely hasn’t worked out well. Teenagers are in a phase of life where independence is becoming increasingly important, so forcing anything on them, even if it is for their own good, is usually not the way to go.
Instead, it is important to give your teenager freedom to make their own decisions. You must get buy-in from your teen so that they have their own motivation to make healthy choices.
One way to do this is to help your teenager recognize the benefits of making healthy decisions. Encourage them to get curious about their health habits and the results that they yield.
You can model that curiosity in your own life. Make constructive comments about your health habits and how they make you feel. These can be ways of teaching and encouraging your teen without them even realizing it, and without it feeling forced. It also shows that you are not perfect, and you are still developing your own health habits.
Find opportunities to model curiosity and invite curiosity in your teenagers. Maybe you make comments like:
- “That carbohydrate snack gave me so much more energy during my workout today!”
- “I have learned that I don’t feel very good if I get less than 8 hours of sleep. What do you feel is a good amount for your body?”
- “This food tastes so good to me, the texture is so unique and I am enjoying every bite!”
- “I am working on finding my satisfaction point when I eat, but it is hard sometimes. How do you know when you are feeling satisfied?”
- “That ice cream really hit the spot. It was just what my body wanted today and I am glad I honored that craving!”
- “Would anyone like to join me for some yoga tonight? I have had a stressful day and need to unwind a bit!”
- “Wow, I didn’t really want to go on that walk, but being active really made my day a lot better and I got some good sunshine too!”
- “My body is craving veggies today! Can you believe that! I notice that when I listen to my body, it actually tells me what it really needs.”
- “I added some healthy fats to my breakfast and I felt full until lunch! It really made a huge difference.”
- “I drank extra water today and I feel so much better. Can you feel a difference when you are better hydrated?”
- “That extra protein after my workout really helped me feel less sore. I know you have been feeling a lot of soreness after your exercise, so maybe that might be worth a try!”
Resources for Helping Teens Learn About Nutrition
Finding a registered dietitian to work with is always a great option for learning about nutrition. Make sure you turn to a dietitian, not just a nutritionist. Anyone can claim they are a nutritionist, even if they have not had any formal training, but dietitians have a degree from an accredited university, a 1200+ hour internship, have passed a national exam, and many even have a master’s degree and other certifications as well.
If you are looking for some other reliable resources, here are a few of my favorites that might be worth checking out!
This website goes through the different food groups, and gives basic recommendations for how many calories your body needs, and how many servings from each food group will be appropriate for your body. It is not very individualized, but it is a good place to start learning!
USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans
This is a document that gets updated by professionals in the field of health and nutrition every five years and gives general nutrition and exercise guidelines that are backed by scientific research.
This is a wonderful book written by dietitians that emphasizes how to have a good relationship with food and with your body while still making healthy choices and taking care of yourself. We live in a world that is obsessed with dieting and sometimes the messages of diet culture can be very overwhelming and have negative effects on our health. This book really calls out diet culture and unhealthy behaviors that might come across as “healthy.”
Summary
If your teenager does not have a good understanding of nutrition, it is okay! In many places around the world, nutrition education is seriously lacking, but on top of that, everyone’s body is different and has different needs, so additional learning is usually required.
Teenagers are at a very important stage of life where developing healthy habits is essential to their growth and development and long-term wellness. However, forcing healthy habits on teenagers is not the way to go. Teens will learn about health and pick up good habits as they witness good examples and recognize how it benefits them and makes their life better.
Turn to experts in the field of nutrition and wellness when you have questions about your own health habits, whether that is online, in books, or through one-on-one consultations. With so much information out there, and many people claiming to have all the answers to your health questions, it is essential to get information from those that are certified to give it.
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