If you’re one of the many parents who believe teenagers can eat unhealthy foods because they’re still young and they’ll just burn it off, pay attention:
While you may be right in telling them that their eating habits will catch up with them one day and they won’t able to eat like this forever, it may be too late to protect their health.
Can teenagers afford to eat what they want without any health consequences?
According to a study in the journal
Circulation, even if your teenager adopts healthy eating habits as he enters adulthood, the damage to his health could already be done.
Basically, all the excess sugar you might think just melts off teens could set them up for serious heart problems later in life.
“Teens who consume high levels of sugar in drinks and foods are more likely to have poor cholesterol and triglyceride profiles which could lead to
heart disease as they get older,’ writes Christine O’Brien in
Nutrition & Healing.
Overweight or obese teens who took in the most added sugar showed signs of insulin resistance, which you probably know is a
diabetes-precursor.
This is scary considering most teens get about 20% of their calories in the form of sugar.
That’s 20% they could be devoting to nutrients instead of piling on the future problems, not to mention the damage it’s doing to their bodies.
In addition, on average, teens aged 12 to 18 take in 119g of added sugars per day.
That’s over 28 teaspoons, which adds up to 476 calories!
“This is the first study to look at the link between added sugars and
heart disease indicators in children, but I’m sure it won't be the last,” writes O’Brien. What’s clear though is that the habits teenagers develop in childhood set the stage for their adult lifestyles.
While teenagers don’t take kindly to being told what to do, let alone what to eat, this advice could save your teenagers’ life down the road.
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