Don’t Let Your Teens Overeat. Tips to Take Control.

Meta Description: Sometimes your teens eats too much and maybe too often. Well, it
could be understood that their body parts are developing and they need more energy. Is there any
cause for panic? Yes would be answer. We give you the reasons why your teens should not
overeat and how to deal with such behavior.

Everyone eats too much sometimes. As teenagers begin puberty, they often eat too much than
they need to. They feel the urge to eat hour after hour and are a lot hungrier. Well, they may be
excused because they need that extra nutrient to generate extra energy to support their body and
brain development.

This is the time teenagers begin to demand larger portions than they used to. They may also
change their usual eating habits. For example, they may begin to eat food too quickly, skip a
meal, prefer eating alone, or eat at unusual times like during the nights.

You will also observe that your children may begin to choose the type of food they want to
consume. They would prefer fries, sugary, and fatty foods, and lesser of fruits and vegetables.
Such decisions are not based on hunger but taste exploration and influence from friends who are
into junk foods.

Be aware of the risks of eating too much

Unfortunately, teenagers are not aware and unfortunately, they do not make themselves
conscious of the consequences of overeating. Parents also may not be at the same level of health
awareness regarding overeating.

Overeating is taking in too many calories than your body can burn. So if you eat consistently too
much you are likely to become overweight. Being overweight or obese will certainly set the
stage for greater health risks now and in the future. You can prevent yourself from stroke and
cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure later in life by watching how much food you take at
teenage.

There are many more medical conditions that result from gaining excess weight from too much
eating. The common conditions include; Arthritis, high blood pressure, higher cholesterol levels,
type 2 diabetes, sleeping and breathing problems.

Obesity is a sure path to life-altering medical conditions. The worst thing about overweight
people is that they are usually unhappy, have large weight swings, and are on their way to
depression. Overweight teenagers exhibit the same characteristics too and they can’t participate
effectively in physical activities – they are just dull.

What can you do to take control?

Teenagers are unlikely to envision their future health even after reading how distorted eating
habits might alter their life in the future or even now. So what can you do to take control? Here
are two tips to help you to start healthy eating habits at home;
 Role-modeling by serving the right portions
  Watch your child eating behavior
Role-modeling
Being a role model is the best way and perhaps the most effective way of teaching your children
the right eating habits. This is being practical in showing your children what are the correct
portions and the correct types of food to be consumed. 
The following tips might help you;
1. Serve your meals using smaller dinner plates so that your meals look larger. The
unfortunate problem about too much eating is that we are used to seeing bigger portions.
This could be the reason why restaurants serve way more food to satisfy their customers.
People see value for their money with large full plates. Bigger portions only triple your
calories.
2. Do not eat too quickly you might be tempted to add more. There is no standard way of
measuring how fast someone eats, but try not to rush through your meals. Chew slowly to
try and give yourself a chance to feel if you need more. It shouldn’t be too slow either to
get you bored with a meal and not too fast to think you need more.
3. Avoid carrying food around with you. Teenagers tend to pick parents' actions more than
what they speak. You are likely to overeat when you carry a bag full of chips to the coach
to eat while watching TV.
4. Do not be tempted to buy a jumbo meal or a drink because they are a few dollars more
than the small size package since teenagers will pick this behavior.
5. Share meals when you feel you have too much or package them to eat later. For example,
restaurants serve almost two or three times the right portions. Do not feel obliged to
finish the whole plate. Rather, opt to package the extra portions if you can’t share.

Watching your child’s eating behavior

Make some time to enjoy a family meal together with your children. You will easily observe
your children eating habits and correct them to eat just enough. It is also a good way to catch up
with everyone’s day and spend family time.
Some of the obnoxious signs and symptoms that your children have begun unhealthy eating
habits are;
 They are eating too quickly
 They are taking too big portions
 They are biting more than what they can chew
 Teenagers could be hiding food containers in their rooms especially sugary or fatty foods
 They are eating frequently and unusually
 Teenagers may not be observing table manners for example eating and talking
The best way to observe and correct this behavior is to take meals together as suggested earlier.
You can also address this by creating a healthy food environment for your teenagerss. First, limit
unhealthy food options available at your home. For example, have a plate of fruits and vegies
available on the table rather than storing fries on the cupboard. You may also choose to have
wholegrain bread in a freezer as opposed to dairy products, chocolates, and ice creams.

Let your teenagers participate in preparing and serving the correct portions of meals. This will
not only teach teenagers to learn not to overeat but also set them up to eat the correct amount of
food in the future.
Thirdly, talk about irresponsible eating habits with your teenagers as you become a role model.
Teach your children to know about distorted portions and how inputting too many calories will
affect their health. Create an environment where you can talk about how you can enjoy your
meals without overeating.

The bottom line

The ultimate goal is to let the children learn when to start eating and when to stop eating.
Additionally, do not let stress, tiredness, or boredom influence you to eat when you are not
hungry. It is easy to manage your eating habits if you just let the stomach do its work of letting
you know when to start and when to stop eating. But, you will expect your children to eat more
during puberty.

Read more:
https://familydoctor.org/overeating-in-children-and-teens/