Everyone is on a diet their entire lives. Does that sound strange? Well, it's true. A diet is simply the way we eat. But the word "diet" also can mean an attempt to lose weight by limiting calories or types of food. You may know some adults and kids who worry about their weight and say they're going on a diet. You might wonder if you should be on a diet too, but the majority of kids do not need to--and should not--diet this way. Why? Let's find out.
Dieting to Lose Weight. All foods and many drinks contain calories, a kind of energy that our bodies need. When someone diets to lose weight, the person is trying to eat fewer calories than the body uses. By doing this, the person may lose body fat and decrease his or her weight. Likewise, if a person eats more calories than the body uses, the person may gain weight.
Kids usually do not need to diet in this way. Unlike grownups, kids are still growing and developing. During this time, kids need a variety of healthy foods to keep their bodies growing properly. Some kids are overweight, but even overweight kids often can improve their health simply by eating nutritious foods and being more active. Being overweight can cause health problems, but kids may hurt their health even more by doing something drastic, like skipping meals or deciding to eat only lettuce.
Who Needs to Diet? Though some people may feel they weigh too much or too little, there is no perfect body shape. Some people have larger frames (bigger bones) and will always look bigger and heavier than people with smaller frames. If you have questions about your weight, ask your doctor to examine you and check your body mass index, or BMI. That's a way of estimating how much body fat you have. If your doctor is concerned about your weight, he or she can recommend one of the following; to gain weight at a slower pace, to maintain your current weight; or to lose weight. Kids who need to lose weight need to do it in a healthy way--reducing calories safely while still getting all the necessary nutrients.
Dangerous Diets. Diets that don't include a variety of nutritious foods, or have too few calories, can be dangerous for kids. Some types of dangerous diets are called "fat diets," because a fad means something that's popular for a short while. Fad diets usually promise quick weight loss and require the person to follow a strict set of guidelines, the kind of guidelines that cannot be done over the course of a lifetime.
Some dangerous diets cut out entire categories of foods or require the person to eat just one kind of food, such as only cabbage soup or only grapefruits! The truth is there is no quick fix when it comes to weight loss. So pills, special drinks or snack bars, all-liquid diets, and other gimmicks are poor choices, especially for kids. If someone offers you a diet pill or suggests you start having a magic milkshake that can make you thinner, tell them no! These diets can make people sick. They also usually end with the person regaining any weight that was lost.
What Kids Can Do. So, if kids don't need to diet, how can they stay at a healthy weight? All kids can benefit from eating a balanced diet and getting plenty of physical activity. Kids have a lot of choices when it comes to activity and exercise. Some like to play on sports teams or dance in troupes. Others may prefer to be more casual, like riding their bikes or shooting hoops at the park. Just helping your parents rake leaves or clean the house is a kind of physical activity, though not as much fun as something like swimming! And it's a good idea to cut down on pastimes that aren't very active--such as watching TV or playing computer games.
Kids can also try to eat a variety of healthy foods. A balanced diet means that you don't eat the same thing every day and that you eat a mix of foods from different food groups. These include:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Milk and dairy products
- Fish, meat and other protein-rich foods
- Grains, especially whole-grain foods such as whole-grain breads and cereals
This kind of diet helps your body by giving it the right nutrients. For instance, protein helps build your muscles and other body structures. Calcium helps your growing bones. And you need vitamins and other nutrients to keep your body working as it should. Fiber prevents constipation, and carbohydrates give you energy, just to name a few.
When you eat healthy, you have more energy and better concentration--and that will help you be a better athlete and student.
Now that you understand more about diets, you can tell people you're on a very special one--a balanced, healthy diet just right for a kid!
Until next time ...
