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Helping Your Teen Maintain Healthy Habits During the School Year

By Kelli Ruderman, Super Kid Nutrition, 11/07/17, 12:00PM PST

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Your teen (or tween) is not a baby anymore. With age, they have gained maturity, independence, and hopefully a good sense of healthy eating principles.

You’ve spent years teaching them about nutrition and health, but now it’s up to your teen to put these ideas into practice.

But have you thought about what they are up against? As we have heard since the 1990’s, our children live in an obesogenic environment. This means that our current surroundings tend to promote obesity in individuals or populations. It is important to teach your teen strategies to avoid falling into unhealthy eating “traps” that exist all around them.

Teens spend a large portion of their time at school, where they are surrounded by their peers. The need to fit in with these peers can strongly influence food choices. Whether healthy or unhealthy, teens will tend to eat in the same way as their friends. Teach your child healthy habits, and help them influence their friends to eat healthier, too.

Here are some common school-related environments your teen may find themselves in, and helpful tips to help them stay healthy throughout the school year.