Teenagers require more iron and calcium than adults ( up to 1,500 mgm of calcium, approximately ). This is for healthy growth and to prevent osteoporis later in life.

A teenager?s diet should include sufficient nutrition in the form of whole grains, leafy green vegetables, fruits, nut, seeds and dry beans.

obviously as a growing teenager, you need a well-rounded diet ... even more important as a teenager who is athletic ...

both should be balanced: the diet and the exercise program ... both obviously go hand in hand ...

sidenote, from a teenager's point of view, it's darn hard to meet the daily nutrition requirements even when working out like a maniac and eating a lot to support the exercise load ...

I'm sure it's not too difficult for a teenager to avoid osteoperosis[sp?] seeing as one of the most eaten foods by a teenager is cereal- and cereal requires milk which helps prevent osteoperosis. Plus, most teenagers eat a lot so there's a really good chance they're all getting what they need to survive.

in today's day and age, a MAJORITY of kids ages toddler to high school graduate and beyond DO NOT eat breakfast, which would be the general time to consume cereals ...

that, coupled with the fact that cafeinated beverages and coffees are on the rise ...

caffeine depletes the body's store of calcium ... a general rule of thumb is for every cafeinated beverage, you need to drink that same amount of milk to just STAY AT ZERO of calcium consumption ...

so, let's take Sally for example, a made-up teenager ...

sally doesn't eat breakfast, and doesn't therefore have milk with cereal ... she stops for a coffee on her way to school ... so, the caffeine in it (especially if it's double shot) barely keeps her at zero if it's a latte or cappuccino ... for lunch, she eats whatever meal she chooses and has a soda or water, still no calcium ... at dinner, she may have a glass of milk, and i would doubt with desert or for snack ... in reality, sally has consumed one of the three recommended glasses of milk a day ... this doesn't seem like a far-cry from today's modern teenager's lifestyle to me ...

Obesity levels in teenagers have gone off the rails...
I agree with Montana but I think that some of it may be down to lack of readily available information on the subject.. Maybe some more education on the imporatance of milk and or breakfast in a teenagers diet.

we all sit through health classes, and by about the 3rd year of having one, we ignore what is being said ... it shouldn't be the teacher's responsibility to teach good nutrition and a healthy eating lifestyle ... it's the parent's responsibility to fill the pantries and fruit rooms with nutritious, healthy foods and to encourage correct eating behaviors in their children ... my mother would always, and i clearly remember this, make my sister and i eat half a banana or half an apple or half an orange with our dinner, which was one heaped cup of hamburger helper, with a salad nearly every night for dinner ... why do i remember it clearly??? because she FORCED it ... and after awhile it became second nature ... even now, i still rely upon measuring cups and such every once in awhile to make sure i'm keeping things in check ... my sister now has to due to diabetes ... but she's one of the rare cases of diabetes now, hers wasn't induced because of obesity and a poor lifestyle ... hers was genetic ...

sadly, people don't see most of the risks until it's far too late to care to do much about it ...

Plan ur menu properly and take time to shop ur foods. Plan in a way that u won't get repeated food in a week by which u won't get bored.

When i was a teenager i almost eat 6-7 times a day.When i grow up i feel that something is going wrong with my body so i decided to change my lifestyle.What i mean is it is better to have a diet plan when you are teenager because it is very hard to lose your weight in the future.

I am a teenager and honestly, I don't eat healthy, I eat a lot of junk and drink a lot of pop, also I play basketball and baseball but yet I still have six-pack abs.

What teenagers honestly DO eat healthy? With all the snacks, and sodas available for students, there is no way. Also, school lunches are never THAT healthy! And if they are, sick!