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Effective diets during adolescence
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025

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Until the age of 9-10, children are usually not very concerned about their appearance, body. Then, under the influence of sex hormones, the body develops rapidly. This concerns not only changes in body shape, but also psychology. Teenagers become concerned about how they look. They evaluate themselves in terms of sexual attractiveness. As a rule, most are not satisfied with themselves, are confident in their inferiority, because they are far from those, in their opinion, standards that they see on the catwalk. Excess weight generally becomes a disaster. Young people begin to exhaust themselves with diets, if not refuse food at all.
Why shouldn't teenagers go on a diet?
If the diet consisted only of giving up fast food, soda, chips and crackers, then it could only be welcomed. But adult nutrition systems are used, based on many restrictions that are unacceptable for a growing organism. How a diet can harm a teenager:
- deprive it of the useful and nutritious substances necessary for its development;
- lead to dehydration, which will affect the condition of the skin, hair, nails, teeth, and cause apathy and chronic fatigue;
- provoke hormonal changes, and in girls, menstruation even stops;
- reduce brain activity, cause headaches, memory loss;
- Due to weak bile flow, gallstones and gastrointestinal diseases may form.
Indications
The use of a diet is justified if there is indeed excess weight or, on the contrary, the teenager is too thin and needs to gain weight. In the first case, the essence of the diet is to reduce the energy value of food, in the second - to increase it. The main goal of both is to affect metabolism.
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General information teen diets
Teenagers aged 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 years should remember that their body is still developing, so to lose weight they only need to slightly adjust their diet, adhering to the following rules:
- reduce caloric intake by no more than 20%;
- adhere to the following proportions in food: half of the products - slow carbohydrates (porridge, excluding semolina and white rice, vegetables and fruits), the other - proteins and fats in equal parts;
- eat regularly, 4-5 times a day in small portions;
- a full breakfast consisting of carbohydrate and protein foods;
- for lunch, the first liquid courses are required;
- dinner is light, including a small amount of meat or fish, vegetables;
- as snacks, use unsweetened fruits, low-fat cottage cheese, and fermented milk products;
- avoid fatty, spicy, and fried foods.
This approach to nutrition will help you lose weight gradually and naturally and will not lead to any unwanted effects.
Weight Loss Diet for Teens
Teenagers should not follow diets intended for adults. It is essential to consult a doctor for individual nutrition and supplementation with multivitamin supplements. Weight loss should be slow, and to speed up metabolism, exercise: swim, ride a bike, jog.
Easy Diets for Teens
Diets for teenagers should be dominated by light food. A summer diet without harm to health will lead to the expected result due to the low calorie content of vegetables and fruits. It would be foolish not to take advantage of the seasonal gifts, because they are rich in fiber, stimulating intestinal motility, useful complex carbohydrates. Such a diet will not only allow you to lose up to 5 kg per week, but will also add variety to the diet, saturate it with vitamins and microelements.
Its essence is in frequent meals, alternating vegetables with berries and fruits. Daily consumption of a piece of tofu cheese and nuts is mandatory.
Diet for weight loss in legs for teenagers
Often teenagers are not satisfied with a particular part of the body, usually the hips. Mostly girls suffer from this, although nature thus prepares them for motherhood. The main principle of nutrition for losing weight in the legs is to increase metabolism, balance it, and drink enough. Physical exercises for the lower extremities, cycling, and swimming will speed up the process.
Drinking still mineral water, green tea, and rosehip infusion will help cleanse the liver of waste products. Before main meals, you should eat raw vegetables, and in between, eat some fruit, especially melons, watermelons, apricots, plums, but grapes are undesirable.
You will have to abstain from fresh wheat bread, pastries, fatty meats, carbonated sweet water. Any vegetables are good, except potatoes. Their quantity and method of preparation are not limited.
Buckwheat diet
Buckwheat diet is a low-carbohydrate protein diet. Due to its composition, rich in vitamins (A, C, group B), macroelements (potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus), microelements (iron, manganese, copper, zinc), the cereal is a valuable dietary product. But, like any other mono-diet, it is unbalanced. In adolescence, as in any other age, fats are also needed to absorb vitamins and minerals.
Despite its high efficiency in relation to adults, it is contraindicated for teenagers. It can be used as a diet for one fasting day.
Protein diet
For the same reasons, doctors are absolutely against a protein diet for teenagers. The lack of fiber, carbohydrates, minerals, and many vitamins can seriously harm the health of young people, because their hormonal system has not yet formed. The kidneys can be especially affected, because they remove the products of protein breakdown. Additional stress on the organ can weaken their functions, which will lead to diseases of other systems.
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Drinking diet
The drinking diet is based on eliminating the chewing reflex from the nutritional process (it supposedly stimulates us to eat a lot, causing appetite). All food should enter the body in the form of liquid of different consistencies: soups, mousses, juices, smoothies, kefir, yogurt.
Nutritionists warn teenagers about the inadmissibility of its use. Such a starvation diet can lead to dystrophy of internal organs, provoke the development of gastritis, gastroduodenitis, anemia. Immunity and sexual function will suffer. The drinking diet can be used once every one or two weeks. In this form, it will not greatly affect weight, but will not harm either.
Sports Diet for Teens
For teenagers involved in sports, a diet that provides energy and building material for muscles is important. At the age of 6-12 years, the daily dose of kilocalories is 1600-2200 units, for older children it increases to 3000. The diet of a teenage athlete should include:
- vegetable and animal proteins - various fish, white meat, eggs, nuts, legumes, dairy products;
- complex carbohydrates - whole grain bread, cereals, fruits;
- vitamins and microelements - in food and vitamin-mineral complexes. Apples and buckwheat are good sources of iron, and cottage cheese, milk, and fermented milk products are good sources of calcium and potassium. These components are primarily necessary for athletes;
- vegetable fats - olive, sunflower, corn oil, nuts;
- Drink plenty of fluids both during training and at other times.
Animal protein dominates the menu (up to 65% of the total daily amount). Eat regularly, 4-5 times a day, but without overeating before training. After it, take a 20-minute break. The greater the load, the more calories the food.
Diet for weight gain for teenagers
Being overweight does not make a young man or woman look good, but being too thin also causes no less inferiority complexes. This happens because rapid growth outpaces weight gain. In addition to the aesthetic problem, health problems may also arise due to a lack of nutrients.
A protein diet is best for teenagers to gain weight, although you do not need to completely exclude fats and carbohydrates. This diet includes milk porridge, sandwiches with butter and jam, cheese, fried meat and fish, eggs, rich soups. There should be 5-6 meals a day. Vegetables and fruits are a must, but snacks, especially second breakfast, are recommended to be more substantial.
Diets for lazy teenagers
There are some tricks for lazy teenagers who don't want to exert themselves physically, stick to diets, and trick hunger. One of them is to drink a glass of water 15-20 minutes before eating (it fills part of the stomach, thereby reducing the volume of food eaten, reduces the caloric content of food, stimulates metabolism, and removes waste products). You don't need to wash down your food. If you want, you can drink extra between meals.
Another way to lose weight is to eat vegetables and fruits whenever you feel hungry, but drink a glass of water 15 minutes beforehand. It is best to have such fasting in the summer when there is an abundance of fruits.
Therapeutic diets for teenagers
Sometimes it becomes necessary to go on a diet due to a particular disease. Therapeutic diets are also used for preventive purposes. Such nutrition systems are developed by specialists taking into account the characteristics of pathologies, the body itself, and contraindications.
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Acne Diet for Teens
Skin defects are a common scourge of teenagers. This happens mainly due to hormonal instability, but acne can also indicate other problems in the body, poor nutrition.
All young people love sweets, which stimulate the production of insulin. It provokes the synthesis of androgens - male hormones that increase the secretion of the sebaceous glands. Sebum clogs the pores, which is the impetus for the appearance of acne and rashes.
The condition of the skin is directly dependent on the work of the intestines. If it does not perform its direct function, there is no complete cleansing from slags and toxins, then the skin joins in. As a result, irritation, acne, comedones occur.
In the fight for healthy epidermis, you need to include proper nutrition. A diet for acne in teenagers should contain pectin and soluble dietary fiber to create beneficial microflora. The menu should include pearl barley and buckwheat porridge, wheat bran, brown rice, vegetables: Brussels sprouts, broccoli; dill, spinach.
Zinc has a beneficial effect on the sebaceous glands, and there is a lot of this element in beef, liver, and seafood. It is also necessary to increase the intake of vitamins in the diet:
- A - has anti-inflammatory properties (found in dairy products, carrots, corn, apricots, fish oil);
- group B - responsible for metabolic processes, cell regeneration (in cheese, cabbage, kidneys, liver, wheat and buckwheat);
- E - maintains water-fat metabolism in the body, stimulates cell regeneration, and provides skin lifting (in vegetable oils, eggs, asparagus, green peas, parsley, fish, nuts).
Omega-3 fatty acids have a powerful healing property. They are found mostly in sea fish and nuts.
All the above mentioned products, when cooked correctly, make up an acne diet. You cannot eat spicy, fatty, smoked foods. Sweets, white bread, baked goods, and products with a high iodine content (seaweed, iodized salt) are also prohibited, as they contribute to the formation of acne.
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Diet for chickenpox
Chickenpox is an infection caused by the herpes virus, in the acute stage it manifests itself with a high temperature and rashes all over the body. To reduce intoxication of the body, the diet should be dominated by milk and other porridges from different cereals, vegetable soups-puree, enveloping cereals, lots of greens, fresh vegetables, fruits, fermented milk products, plenty of drinking plain water, fruit drinks, herbal decoctions (chamomile, mint, lemon balm, rose hips, calendula).
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Hypoallergenic Diet for Teens
Hypoallergenic diet for teenagers - increased sensitivity to various substances - allergens results in swelling of the nasal mucosa, redness of the eyes and lacrimation, rashes on the skin, which significantly reduces the quality of life and can lead to dangerous complications. In this case, it is important to identify the allergen and eliminate or reduce its impact on a person.
Often, allergic reactions are caused by one or more products. These can be eggs, fish, cow's milk, candies and other sweets, cereal protein, citrus fruits, honey, etc. If an allergen is identified, then in the diet, compiled with the help of a doctor, it is necessary to exclude these products and find a full replacement for them in terms of nutritional value.
If the trigger is not identified, it is necessary to exclude products from the diet one by one, observing the body's reaction. The least danger comes from:
- rabbit and chicken meat;
- barley and millet groats;
- green apples;
- fermented milk products;
- greenery.
The dishes are prepared in a dietary way, vegetable oil is used, unleavened bread, cabbage and cucumber salads, soups are preferably vegetarian, broths are secondary, cereals are after 2-hour soaking. Sweet carbonated drinks are excluded from drinks, dried fruit compote and just water are better.
Diet for mononucleosis
Mononucleosis is an infectious disease that causes enlarged lymph nodes. This is accompanied by fever, weakness, headache, and sometimes painful sensations when swallowing.
Half of all infections occur in adolescence. During the illness, general strengthening measures are taken, physical activity is prohibited for 1.5-2 months, and a dietary diet is recommended. Well-known antioxidants will help to overcome the acute period and strengthen the immune system in the future: citrus fruits, nuts, eggs, carrots, currants, fish oil.
Fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meat, fish, dairy products, various cereals, and first courses with broth are suitable for patients. Fried, spicy, smoked, and canned foods should not be consumed, since the liver and spleen are already suffering from the infection.
Diet for a teenager with gastritis
Teenage gastritis is a fairly common occurrence. Passion for fast food, irregular meals, stress at school and other psycho-emotional stress, neglect of hygiene rules, biliary dyskinesia gradually lead to inflammation of the gastric mucosa. Pain, heaviness in the epigastrium, belching, nausea occur.
Diet for gastritis is the main way to relieve irritation of the stomach walls and get rid of unpleasant sensations. Nutrition for teenagers depends on many features of the pathology, on the acidity of the stomach. In any case, fatty, spicy, fried foods, rich broths are excluded.
With low acidity, food should stimulate the synthesis of gastric juice, and with high acidity, on the contrary, neutralize hydrochloric acid. In any case, more liquid dishes, less dry food, cooked vegetables to avoid coarse fiber, low-fat dairy products, the exclusion of whole raw milk for hypoacid gastritis, sour fruits and berries for hyperacid gastritis, regular meals will relieve many problems of the gastrointestinal tract.
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Diet for atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis is the body's reaction to certain foods. The immune system does not perceive some of them, which manifests itself in rashes on the body, mainly in the folds of the limbs, on the neck, cheeks, forehead. A blood test for an allergen helps to identify the irritant.
A diet for atopic dermatitis in adolescents excludes the identified product, as well as potential allergy triggers. These include fruits (especially citrus fruits), red vegetables and berries, fatty pork, lamb, duck, goose, and chicken eggs, dairy products, various seasonings, honey, and other sweets. The method of cooking dishes should be dietary only, salt and sugar should be limited within reasonable limits.
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Diet for arterial hypertension
Cases of high blood pressure in teenagers are not uncommon. They are caused by the metabolic, regulatory, and regenerative features of a growing organism. Detecting complications at early stages can prevent health problems in the future.
Normalization of blood pressure levels largely depends on proper nutrition. The daily diet should contain enough fiber (at least 300 g), it is necessary to reduce the consumption of table salt (5 g per day). Pressure is increased by sauces, marinades, chips, salted nuts, hamburgers, Coca-Cola, smoked meats, chocolate - they should be excluded from the diet.
Fatty foods also do not contribute to stabilization of the indicators, since the violation of fat metabolism leads to an increase in cholesterol, its deposits on the walls of blood vessels. For arterial hypertension, a dairy-vegetable diet with a lipotropic effect is best suited.
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Diet for epilepsy
Epileptic seizures are associated with a disturbance in the processes of excitation and inhibition in the cells of the cerebral cortex. In adolescence, their frequency may increase due to ignoring the rules of life that dictate the disease: irregular sleep, familiarity with alcoholic beverages, ignoring anticonvulsants, and engaging in traumatic sports.
The principle of nutrition for epilepsy should be based on a ketogenic diet, characterized by the predominance of fats over proteins and carbohydrates in the diet, and the latter should be reduced to a minimum. Such food leads to the formation of ketones - metabolic products that, entering the brain, provide an anticonvulsant effect.
The selection of products is usually done by a doctor. In addition to those containing fats, the menu should include those that supply the body with folic acid, vitamin B12, D, K, calcium, magnesium. And these are fish, cereals, dairy, fruits, vegetables, beef liver.
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Diet for gallbladder deformation
The gallbladder can change its shape and location due to various circumstances. The most common deformation is a kink in its neck. This leads to inflammation of the organ - cholecystitis and obstructed bile flow. It is needed to digest fats and move food through the intestines. Disruption of its secretion negatively affects digestive functions.
In this situation, it is impossible to influence the gallbladder itself, but it is necessary to adjust the diet, removing fatty, hard-to-digest foods from the diet. It is important not to overeat, eat small portions, but often. Focus on the therapeutic diet No. 5 according to Pevzner, include porridge, soups, and other non-spicy dishes in the menu. Cook, avoid frying, chop lean boiled or baked meat, do not use mayonnaise, reduce the consumption of sour foods, such as sorrel, eat bread in a dried form. Forget about mushrooms, raw onions, garlic, beans, radishes, chocolate, strong coffee.
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Diet for constipation
In adolescence, problems with bowel movements are common. Constipation can be caused by poor nutrition, stress, various psychological imbalances, lack of self-confidence, for example, being ashamed to go to the toilet in the company of friends. Irregular bowel movements are facilitated by prolonged sitting at a desk, and then also at a computer, dysfunction of the thyroid gland, gastrointestinal disease, long-term use of certain medications, including antibiotics.
If no diagnoses have been established, then it is necessary to adjust the diet and increase the amount of liquid consumed. What has a positive effect on solving the problem? Products rich in fiber improve intestinal motility: raw and cooked vegetables, fruits, cereals (oatmeal, pearl barley, corn), bran bread. The menu should include first courses, fermented milk products, and melons in season.
It is necessary to minimize dry foods, fried and canned foods, rice, coffee and cocoa.
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Diet for a month for teenagers
The diet for teenagers differs significantly from that of adults. For such a long period as a month, you cannot deprive the growing body of nutrients. Food should provide the child with muscle growth due to proteins, replenish energy with carbohydrates, but contain less fat, although the body also needs it.
What can you eat? The menu must include milk, cottage cheese, fermented baked milk, yogurt - all low-fat, meat, fish and seafood, lots of vegetables, fruits, various cereals. Food should be salted less, cooked in a dietary way. What can't you eat? You need to say "no" to sweet fizzy drinks, chips, smoked meats, candies and baked goods.
Teen Diet Menu for a Week
For teenagers, you can organize a fairly varied dietary menu that will not cause any rejection, but will only benefit the body and reduce weight.
The menu for such a diet for a week may be as follows:
Breakfast |
Dinner |
Afternoon snack |
Dinner |
|
Monday |
Oatmeal on water, boiled chicken, unsweetened tea |
Vegetarian borscht, cheese toast, egg |
Kefir with bread |
Fresh vegetable salad, baked potatoes |
Tuesday |
Milk corn porridge, green tea |
Soup with rice and vegetables, meatballs |
Apple, pear |
Steamed fish, tomatoes, cucumbers |
Wednesday |
2 soft-boiled eggs, vegetable salad |
Chicken breast, vegetable stew |
2 tangerines |
Cottage cheese drizzled with honey, a cup of milk |
Thursday |
Durum wheat pasta, a glass of tomato juice |
Meatball soup, bread with hard cheese |
Baked apples |
Meat with buckwheat, dried fruit compote |
Friday |
Steamed omelette, tea |
Mashed potatoes, baked fish |
Nuts |
Meatballs with fresh cabbage salad |
Saturday |
Cottage cheese casserole, tea |
Barley soup, toast with cheese |
Grapefruit |
Boiled cauliflower, chicken, tea |
Sunday |
Fruit salad, tea with a rusk |
Vinaigrette, meat cutlet |
Kiwi, orange |
Kefir with crackers |
Contraindications
Not all and not always diets are indicated for teenagers. In the presence of diseases, especially of the digestive organs, a doctor's consultation is mandatory. He will either prohibit it or make his own adjustments according to the indications.
Low-carbohydrate, mono-diet is contraindicated for teenagers. If the diet is unbalanced, there is a risk of various complications, and a delay in physical development is possible.
Reviews
Many parents confirm the effectiveness of diets for teenagers. Of course, this is also their considerable merit. Organizing the correct diet, choosing healthy products and preparing them in a dietary way is a large part of success.
According to other reviews, there is often a problem of finding reasonable arguments not to sit on diets for a long time. Maximalism of young people, excess in dietary restrictions will reduce weight, but also harm health. Diets for teenagers should be gradual, there is no place for aggression. Psychologists and nutritionists can help in solving this problem.
There is an effective method to lose weight in a week without dieting by reducing your portions by a third and exercising intensively.