NUTRITION
Middle School Years for Adolescence Girls
What is adolescence?
Adolescence is the transition between childhood and adulthood. The beginning is marked by PUBERTY, biological events leading up adult-sized body and sexual maturity. In North America, this begins between 10-12 years of age. The first sign seen by others is a rapid gain in height and weight, known as growth spurt. Proper nutrition is key in this stage of your daughter's growth.
Nutritional Needs
Based on physical activity, girls need between 1400 and 2200 calories per day, according to USDA. These can come from a variety of sources, while limiting intake of soda, juice, candy, "junk food" and other processed foods with high sugary content. The "plate" is a great visual to use as a guideline to help with meeting the nutritional needs.
Studies have shown when females take in too much fat and calories, they deposit more fat in the abdomen region. Chemicals released by these fat cells, can cause puberty to begin sooner than it would normally would have. However, the opposite effect occurs when not enough fat and calories are taken in. Underweight females tend to start puberty later than others.
A study done in 2004 regarding fast-food, shows the effects of these foods to be like those in children who take in too much fat and calories. Fast -food is not a healthy option, especially for adolescence who need all the healthy nutrition they can intake.
Another study done by Society for Research in Child Development indicates a strong association between frequent family meals with greater intake of fruits, vegetables, grains, and calcium-rich foods. This also reduces soft drink consumption and replaced by healthier drinks. Children eat and drink much more healthier at family meal time.
graph courtesy of USDA
Lean protein includes: lean cuts of poultry, red meat, seafood, fish, beans, peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Grains include oats, wheat, rice, cornmeal, barley, oatmeal, grits.
Vegetables: any fresh, frozen, raw, cooked, canned, dried/dehydrated, 100% vegetable juice (i.e. V-8)
Fruit: any fresh, frozen, raw, cooked, canned, dried/dehydrated, 100% fruit juice
Dairy: Lower fat Milk, cheese, yogurt, milk based deserts (pudding, frozen deserts - ice milk, ice cream, frozen yogurt).
photo courtsey of State of Rhode Island Dept of Health
This graph shows how much sugar is in soft drinks, boxed juices, and other processed drinks. Drinking these will add to the unhealthy and empty calories taken in by your daughter. In the adolescence years, she needs all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals she can get from healthy foods.
photo courtesy of picturejockey.com
Water makes up approximately 45% of the adolescent girls weight. The best drinks are plain water and milk. Water is needed by the body to process and metabolize. Milk is needed for its calcium and nutrients. Yes, milk has fat and calories. They are considered healthy fat and calories, not empty.
References
References
Berk, L. E. (2010). Explorations in lifespan development (5th ed.). Boston, Mass.: Allyn & Bacon.
Bowman, S. A., Gortmaker, S. L., Ebbeling, C. B., Pereira, M. A., & Ludwig, D. S. (2004). Effects of Fast-Food Consumption on Energy Intake and Diet Quality Among Children in a National Household Survey. Pediatrics, 113, 112-118.
Fiese, B. H., & Schwartz, M. (2008). Reclaiming the family table: Mealtimes and Child health and well-being. Social Policy Report of the Society for Research in Child Development, 22(4), 3-18. Retrieved from www.srcd.org/publications
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.choosemyplate.gov
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). Retrieved November 4, 2013, from http://www.usda.gov