Appropriate nutrition

[Night Elf]

Dd16 wants to know what nutrition values she needs, ie. calories, fat, grams of carbs. I'm doing a similar diet to my diabetic mom so I don't eat more than 150 grams of carbs a day. How do we know what is appropriate for dd? My doctor wasn't able to answer my questions when she wanted me on a low carb diet. She suggested I go to a nutritionist.

[Laura Corin]

I don't think in terms of counting anything, but rather in visual cues.  If a plate is one third to one half veg/fruit, one quarter to one third whole grain carbohydrate and one quarter to one third protein then it seems about right.  Calories?  Allowing her to maintain a healthy weight.

 

L

[Truscifi]

I don't think in terms of counting anything, but rather in visual cues.  If a plate is one third to one half veg/fruit, one quarter to one third whole grain carbohydrate and one quarter to one third protein then it seems about right.  Calories?  Allowing her to maintain a healthy weight.

 

L

 

Barring specific health issues I think this is a good approach, especially for someone who is still growing. Also in terms of visual cues, the more colors on the plate the better (as long as they are from natural whole foods, not processed or dyed foods of course).

 

I aim for under 100g of carbs a day and generally avoid any grains/starches, but I make sure my boys have whole grain foods available because they need the extra calories and don't have my blood sugar issues.

[bolt.]

A website called "spark people" has formulas they use to calculate those values, and nice clear explanations of the math behind the results. They are a 'weight loss' site primarily, but I think you can calculate for both loss and 'maintenance'. (But you might want to watch out if you don't want her getting the message that thinner is automatically healthier.) The site can also be used to track a few average days for her, to see where she naturally falls within the values according to her eating habits.

[Ottakee]

I can't help you with specific amounts but I would focus on real fruits and veggies, whole grains, healthy fats, etc. and avoid the "diet" foods or "low fat" ones which have a lot of other junk in them instead.  I think a growing teen needs good protein, a healthy amount of fats, etc.

[wintermom]

I don't think in terms of counting anything, but rather in visual cues.  If a plate is one third to one half veg/fruit, one quarter to one third whole grain carbohydrate and one quarter to one third protein then it seems about right.  Calories?  Allowing her to maintain a healthy weight.

 

L

 

The only thing I'd add to this, is be aware that the actual dimention/size of the plate can really change the overall calories. Pick a dinner plate size that isn't too big. It's also totally fine to not eat everything on the plate.

 

Talking to a nutritionist would be a great idea.

[Amy in NH]

Have you looked at nutrition.gov?  They have a section just for adolescents.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Agreeing with others that calorie counting is not a great nutrition system without some medical reason. 

 

If she simply wants a check-up or wake up call on her eating, encourage her to keep a food diary for a week, then she can use something like spark people to see how she is doing in terms of vitamins and minerals and such. 

 

If she wants to know how to eat correctly, that is a tougher question to answer, because there are many healthy "diets" out there.  I believe Michael Pollen wrote a book just for kids or teens, but if not, she might enjoy the book Food Rules or Omnivore's Dilemma. 

[bolt.]

I like those rules:

 

- Eat (real) food

- Not too much

- Mostly plants

[Night Elf]

I don't think in terms of counting anything, but rather in visual cues.  If a plate is one third to one half veg/fruit, one quarter to one third whole grain carbohydrate and one quarter to one third protein then it seems about right.  Calories?  Allowing her to maintain a healthy weight.

 

L

 

Oh I agree, but she's in a culinary class and they do talk about these things. Also, she's really taking a look at school lunches and realizing they aren't as healthy as they should be. She was trying to figure out calories for some of the lunch choices. She wants to eat healthier but she doesn't want to eat salads every day. They have several different lunch lines: grill, burger, chicken, pizza, vegetarian, and somthing called Mama's Line. She said the chicken and pizza lines are the longest each day.

[umsami]

One easy thing to tell her is to choose whatever she wants for lunch, take a half portion, and fill the rest of her plate with non-starchy veggies and fruits.  If she did that with every meal, she'd be fine.

 

For teen girls, one big concern is that they tend not to drink milk or get in enough calcium, so I would encourage that.

 

Calorie wise…I wouldn't go below 1800-2000, as she's still growing.

 

OK…did some searching….http://www.eatright.org/kids/article.aspx?id=6442459420

 

"Teenage girls need more, too: 1,800 to 2,200 calories a day if they're ages 11 to 13, and 1,800 to 2,400 calories a day if they're age 14 to 18. "

[scootiepie]

I am an R.D. and if I were doing an evaluation I would want to know info such as height, weight, desired weight, activity level, growth chart pattern, and medical conditions in order to calculate a

person's nutrition requirements.   Unless it is clinically indicated, an evaluation like that would not be needed as a routine matter.   (For example I don't do this for my kids).   Just mentioning this

because I don't think you should spend $$ for a professional evaluation.   Most RDs I know would be happy to be a guest speaker at a school or culinary class.   I would go that route and invite one to a class or meeting with a topic suggestion or two.  

[Joyofsixreboot]

I am an R.D. and if I were doing an evaluation I would want to know info such as height, weight, desired weight, activity level, growth chart pattern, and medical conditions in order to calculate a

person's nutrition requirements. Unless it is clinically indicated, an evaluation like that would not be needed as a routine matter. (For example I don't do this for my kids). Just mentioning this

because I don't think you should spend $$ for a professional evaluation. Most RDs I know would be happy to be a guest speaker at a school or culinary class. I would go that route and invite one to a class or meeting with a topic suggestion or two.

I'm an R.D. too. What she said.

[LibraryLover]

And a reminder to make those calories count! I have a 14 year old athlete dd, and her nutrient needs are pretty great. She needs nutrient dense food to get her through the day and her activity. I try to keep avocado, good proteins, raw cheese, nut butters without sugar,  almonds, salmon, and other omega 3 foods available. I make smoothies from plain yogurt with some fruit  (we have a Vita mix which preserves the fiber). She goes through a couple of liters of seltzer water a week, plus has a constantly- full portable container of water.  Still, she is very often starving by the time she gets home. I try to have hummus and carrots etc waiting as I get dinner on the table. If there isn't something like that available, she starts asking for take -out pizza. lol  Mashed avocado with a couple of blue corn chips or veggie sticks also takes the edge off.