Diet Plans for 14-Year-Old Girls

Planning a diet for a teen girl can be tricky. Many teen girls suffer from bad self esteem or a skewed body image, and may resort to crash diets that they don't need to be healthy. Instead of suggesting a diet, suggest a healthy diet plan, where she can learn to eat properly, along with exercise to create a healthier self image. As long as your teen has a healthy body mass index, or BMI, then she does not need a diet to lose weight. A diet plan that can maintain her health is all that she needs.

Planning a Diet

When your 14-year-old girl indicates that she wants to eat healthier, or you've noticed her body changing, it's important to calculate her BMI to see where she falls. Unlike adult BMI, a teen's BMI is calculated and then compared to other teens to give a percentile that she is in for her weight and height, much like you'd receive at the doctor's office. The BMI can give you a clue as to whether she simply needs a diet plan to eat more healthy, or if she'll need a diet plan for weight loss. With a healthy BMI, your 14-year-old girl will enjoy better quality of life.

Regular Meals and Snacks

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One of the most important things to incorporate into a 14-year-old girl's diet plan is regular meals and snacks throughout the day. Teenagers are especially susceptible to skipping meals like breakfast and lunch: the first because she's running late, and the second due to pressure from peers to eat as little as possible. However, skipping meals sends your 14-year-old's body into starvation mode, telling it to store up fat for the next skipped meal. Eating regular meals actually causes a teen's metabolism to run faster, burning more calories in preparation for the next snack. Talk to her about the importance of regular eating, both for maintaining energy, concentration and focus through the day, and as an important tool for weight loss.

Better Meals and Snacks

Too often teen girls eat meals and snacks that are less than ideal. While you want her to eat regularly, you also want her to eat quality food that will help her on her quest for a healthier diet. Make it easy for her by supporting her diet. Send her to school with a variety of healthy snacks like nuts, vegetables and crackers to snack on between school periods, and opt for a homemade lunch over cafeteria fare, which can be greasy and unhealthy. Talk to her about staying full with the right foods, those that are high in nutrients, but still low in fat and calories. Armed with the right information, your 14-year-old girl can follow a diet plan to keep her healthy, and gain eating tools to help her for the rest of her life.