What is a Highly Active Teenager?

A highly active teenager is a teen who is active between 5-7 days a week for at least one hour. As a highly active teenager, you need energy to keep you running and doing the activity you like to do. You also need to be healthy and eat right! In this blog you will learn all about how to be healthy as a highly active teenager.

This is a picture of the new food pyramid from mypyramid.gov.

Bibliography

"Carbohydrates."Vision Learning. The Nation Science Foundation.

"The Nutrition Source Fats and Cholestrol. "Harvard. Harvard School of Public Health.

"Protein." Mammas Health. Mammas health. .

fats

There are two different types of fats, good fats and bad fats. Bad fats are saturated and trans fat. Monounsarurated and Polyunsaturated fats are good fats that lower the risk of diseases. Some foods that include fat are butter's, and meets.(beef) Unsaturated fats are found in foods that come from plants or fish. Also some oils that are good for you include olive oil, peanut oil, and canadian oil. Saturated fats are found in animal products, such as milk, butter, chesses, and meats. If you eat too much saturated fats, you can increase blood cholestrol levels and have a greater risk of heart diseases. 

Protein

Protein is the primary component of all the tissue in our body and is the main component of the muscle tissue. Protein helps to develop muscle strength, and development. It also helps improve athletic performance. The most important function of protein is to replace tissues in your body, muscle, organs, and some of your hormones. The average amount of protein that a highly active teenager should be eating is about 28.8 grams to 49.6 grams of protein. Some foods that have protein in it are eggs, milk, and meats.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for our body. Carbohydrates are broken down during the process of metabolism. Once the carbohydrates are broken down, they release energy for the body to use. There are two different kinds of carbohydrates. There are simple sugars, and complex carbohydrates. Simple sugars are made up of one or two sugar units, Glucose or Fructose. Simple sugars taste sweet and are broken down quickly for the body to use the energy. Glucose is a type of sugar that is stored in the body for energy, and Fructose is found in fruits. The complex carbohydrates are links of simple sugars linked together. These sugars are stored for a longer period of time. 

Recommended Intake of Carbs~Protein~Fat

Carbs~ 50%
For a highly active teenager, it is important to have much carbs. Carbohydrates give you energy for running and is what your body uses first for energy in activities.
Protein~ 30%
Proteins help your organs, muscles, and immune system to stay strong. Thay are used for energy, but are not the main source, so you would not need as much.
Fat~20%
Fats help your brain and nervous system to develop correctly. Fats are needed, but are not the most important when exercising because they have other jobs in your body.

The 40-30-30 diet is for an average person who is not as active. As an active teenager, you will need more carbs for energy for workouts.

Caloric Intake

The Harris-Benedict formula
The Harris Benedict equation is a calorie formula using the factors of height, weight, age, and sex to determine basal metabolic rate
Men: BMR = 66 + (13.7 X wt in kg) + (5 X ht in cm) - (6.8 X age in years)
Women: BMR = 655 + (9.6 X wt in kg) + (1.8 X ht in cm) - (4.7 X age in years)

Very active Person = BMR X 1.725 (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days/wk)

For Example
You are Male
You are 68 kg
You are 170 cm
You are 15
You are very active

Your Caloric Intake should be 3011 calories.

The caloric intake can be different for different people depending on their size, even if they are all highly active teenagers.
So there is a large range of caloric intake for highly active teenagers.

The Bare Necessities of Healthy Living

Some Funny Cartoons on Healthy Eating

The Benefits of Eating Healthy

The Benefits of Eating Healthy

One of the benefits of eating healthy, is having a healthy diet.

With a healthy diet, you are able to control
-your body weight, so that you are not underweight or overweight
-able to give energy to enjoy different types of physical activity
-able to support your body as it is growing to reach your full physical potential

Although the benefits above work strait away, there are also some benefits that you may not notice straight away- but they are working inside.
With scientific evidence proving that with a healthy you can help avoid diet-related diseases.
• Heart diseases
• High Cholesterol
• High Blood Pressure
• Strokes (that may lead to brain damage due to lack of blood supply)
• Some Cancers
• Osteoporosis (the thinning of the bones)

Healthy eating is a way of balancing the food you eat to keep your body strong, energized, and well nourished.

Many people might get confused with the definition of "healthy eating." Well healthy eating can be described as follows...
• Aiming for regular meals (usually 3 meals per day in the morning, afternoon and the evening)
• Eating food of the five different food groups (the grain, fruits and vegetables, proteins, dairy and fats.)
• Eating when hungry and stopping when full

A Guide to Eating for Sports

A Guide to Eating for Sports

There's a lot more to eating for sports, than just chowing down on power bars, or chugging sports drinks. The good news is that eating to reach your peak performance level doesn't require a special diet or supplements. It is all about working the right foods into your fitness plan and the right amounts.

Because teens are mostly athletes, they work out more than their less active peers. In order to maintain their high intensity levels, they generally need extra calories to fuel both their sport performance as well as their growth. Depending on the athlete, they may need anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 total calories per day to meet their energy needs.

If athletes don't reach their potential calories per day, their bodies are less likely to achieve peak performance and may even break down rather than build up muscles. They wont be as fast and as strong as they can be, and they might even loose some weight.

Since teen athletes need extra fuel during the day, it is a bad idea for them to go on a diet. Athletes in sports where weight is emphasized...
• wrestling
• swimming
• dance
• gymnastics
might feel pressured to lose weight, but they might need to reconsider their choice.

Before a big game you may have herd the term "carb loading." But it is a bad idea to focus on only one type of food before something so big. Carbohydrates are an important source of fuel, but they are not the only foods that athletes should eat.
By also taking vitamins, minerals, protein, and fats help to stay in peak playing shape.

Making Healthy Food Choices

Making Healthy Food Choices

1. Have Regular Family Meals.
2. Serve a variety of healthy foods and snacks.
3. Be a role model by eating healthy yourself.
4. Avoid battles over food.
5. Involve kids in the process.

Good nutrition and a balanced diet help kids grow up healthy. These five strategies are of the best strategies to improve nutrition and encourage smart eating habits.

Family Meals:
Family Meals are a comforting ritual between parent and kid. Parents use this time to catch up with their kid, and for kids it is a predictability of the family meals. Encouraging kids to take part in family meals also help...

1. More likely to eat fruits, vegetables and grains
2. Less likely to snack on unhealthy foods
3. Less likely to smoke, use marijuana, or drink alcohol

This is the chance for parents to introduce new food to children.

Sources

Children's Hospital Boston. Healthy Eating During Adolescence. .

"Teens Health." Eat Extra for Excellence. A Guide to Eating for Sports. .

"Benefits of healthy eating." Healthy eating. Monday 24 November 2008. Teen Health. .

Adcouncil. "Nutrition Education - Healthy Balance." Youtube.com. January 22, 2008. Youtube.com. .

"Healthy Eating." Google Images. Google Images. .