Healthy Breakfasts, Lunches, and Dinners for Teens
Feeding your teen a healthy diet will reduce his risk of obesity and heart disease later in life. Healthy food also keeps your teen's body energized, and supports healthy muscle and bone development. To keep your teen interested in eating healthy, provide a wide range of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You have several options for each meal; choose from different ones each day to provide your teen with everything his body needs. Does this Spark an idea?
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Breakfast
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Breakfast should provide your teen with energy to kick-start his day and enough substance to keep him feeling full until lunch. Fruits provide high amounts of vitamins, minerals and natural sugars to give your teen energy and strengthen his immune system. Blend frozen and fresh fruit with fruit juice and yogurt in a blender to make a healthy fruit smoothie. Add fruits to hot or cold whole-grain cereals such as oatmeal or cornflakes. Eggs will provide high amounts of protein to give your teen lasting energy throughout the day. Serve scrambled eggs alongside whole-grain toast, or an omelet with cheese, veggies and lean meat added in.
Lunch
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Lunch provides your teen's body with a mid-day boost to keep his energy levels high. Chicken or turkey breast sandwiches are a quick and easy option, which you can customize to your teen's likes and dislikes. Wraps are an alternative to sandwiches, allowing you to use the same ingredients in a tortilla for variety. Potato, pasta and fruit salads are simple options you can make in bulk to feed your teen for a few days in a row. Whole-wheat bagel pizzas, with light cheese and a sprinkling of meat and vegetables, will provide your teen with carbohydrates while letting him indulge.
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Dinner
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Dinner will give your teen's body its final dose of nutrients for the day. Serve chicken breast over a bed of rice to provide your teen with protein and carbohydrates at the end of the day. Lean meat, alongside whole-grain pasta and a serving of veggies will keep your teen full for the rest of the night. If your teen enjoys quick meals he can take to his room, make a burrito with low-fat refried beans, light cheese and an assortment of fresh veggies. Quesadillas are another easy food to eat on the go; use roughly the same ingredients as in the burritos for an easy change of pace.
Drinks
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Provide your teen with healthy drinks at every meal. Aside from making sure he drinks at least eight 8-oz. glasses of water daily, fruit juices and teas will keep his body energized. Fruit juice is a filling side to serve with breakfast, and you can serve tea with dinner to sneak in an extra dose of antioxidants. Milk provides your teen's body with high amounts of calcium; use low-fat chocolate milk mix to encourage him to drink enough of it.
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References
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