How to Maintain a Healthy Diet at School (Teens)

Adjusting Your Daily Routine

Eat breakfast every day before school. Go for yogurt with fresh fruit like strawberries or blueberries and granola, or a bowl of wholegrain breakfast cereal that is low in sugar with low-fat milk. Starting the morning off with a meal also signals the metabolism to rev-up, creating a calorie-burning, fat-burning environment for the rest of the day. Remember that what you eat at breakfast will impact your cravings for the rest of the day. Choose proteins, whole grains and healthy fats. You can also have eggs and multigrain toast or a breakfast smoothie with a frozen banana, berries, water or coconut milk, and honey.

Pack a full water bottle. Sugary soft drinks and sodas will only lead to a temporary sugar high and a poor diet. Substitute sodas and fruit juices with a water bottle full of filtered water. Add a slice of lemon, lime, cucumber, or orange for all natural flavor. Put the full water bottle in your school bag so you have it ready when you’re thirsty at school.

Put healthy snacks in your school bag. Wrap an apple and a banana in a paper bag and put it in your backpack in the morning, or put a few sugar free granola bars in your bag. This way, when you’re hungry between periods you have healthy snacks rather than processed snacks from the vending machine. Focus on foods that do not need to be kept cool. Sometimes a cold pack can be used, but to eliminate the chance of food-borne illness, choose foods that are shelf-stable and can easily be carried around throughout the day. You can also prepare healthy snacks the night before by cutting up fresh fruit and packing it in tupperware, or putting trail mix in ziploc bags. Stash them by the front door so you can grab them in the morning or pack them in your school bag.

Making Homemade Meals

Create a meal schedule. Spend some time planning out your meals with a parent or guardian to ensure you have three meals a day, every day. Focus on lunch meals that are easy to transport, pack well, and are filling, but still healthy. Get a dry erase board or use a word processing program to make a grid for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Then, write the days of the week that you go to school, usually Monday-Friday. Work with a parent to come up with basic meals for a quick breakfast, a healthy and easy to carry lunch, and a filling dinner. You can also use an app on your phone like ZipList, Evernote, and Pepper Plate to create a meal schedule and a shopping list for the grocery store.

Pack your lunch the night before. Making your lunch the night before should be part of your routine, and shouldn’t take longer than 30 minutes. If a parent usually packs your lunch, get involved and help him organize the meal and put it in containers or resealable bags. Use leftover food from dinner or from a big batch of prepared food in a different ways, such as leftover BBQ chicken in a wrap or leftover vegetables on whole wheat pasta.

Go for healthy options if you leave campus for lunch. Choose restaurants with quick and healthy options. Avoid most fast food restaurants or choose the healthier item if you find yourself at one. Choose salads, wraps, or deli sandwiches. If your friends have a soft spot for fast food, look for the healthier food choices on the menu, like the vegetarian option or a sandwich with a side of salad instead of french fries.

Don’t skip a meal. Skipping meals signals the metabolism to slow down and burn fewer calories. This is not ideal during a long day of sitting in a classroom. The ideal situation would be to signal the body to ramp up the metabolism and keep it high with healthy, timely snacks throughout the day.

Ask your parents if you can help with the cooking. Get involved in preparing food and working with your parents in the kitchen. Learn how to cut vegetables properly and how to treat raw food. Ask you parents questions about cooking and preparing food so you can practice your cooking skills. As you help prepare meals, think about healthier ways to make certain dishes. For example, baking or steaming fish instead of frying it, or replacing red meat with other protein options like baked tofu. Helping to cook meals will also allow you to control the portion size on the plates. Limiting your portion sizes to no more than a handful of each dish or type of food will ensure you do not overeat.

Choosing Healthy Options at School

Look for fruit and vegetable options. As of 2012, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) issued new standards for school lunches, which increased the amount of fruits and vegetables served, emphasized whole grain foods, allowed only low fat and nonfat milk, and reduced saturated fats and sodium. By law, your school should offer a daily serving of fruits and vegetables, fresh or in a fruit or veggie cup without added sugar. If your school offers fruit juices as a beverage, they must be 100% juice, with no added sugar. They may also offer dried fruit options. There should be vegetables available in the form of dark leafy greens like broccoli, or spinach, red or orange veggies like carrots or sweet potatoes, and beans or peas like kidney beans or lentils. If starchy foods like corn or white potatoes are served, there should be no added salt. Beans and peas may also be offered as meat alternatives for vegetarian eaters.

Remember that most quick options are laden with salt, sugar and fat. It is possible to find healthy options in schools, but the best option is always packing a balanced lunch. According to a report by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the five worst meals you can eat at school are: Beef and cheese nachos, which contain 24 grams (0.85 oz) of fat and almost 1,500 milligrams of sodium Meatloaf and potatoes, which contain 72 calories and 78 milligrams of cholesterol Cheeseburgers, which have more saturated fat than a child should consume in an entire meal Cheese sandwiches such as grilled cheese sandwiches and cheese quesadillas, which contain more than 7 grams (0.25 oz) of saturated fat and almost 1,000 milligrams of sodium Pepperoni pizza, which contains more than 6 grams (0.21 oz) of saturated fat; pepperoni is a processed meat that increases the risk of cancer

Load up on grains. Schools in the U.S. are required to serve whole grain options for lunch every school day. These include rice, quinoa, and/or couscous. Look for these healthier grain options in place of carb-heavy foods like bread or pasta. Schools are also required to offer meat alternative foods, like tofu or soy yogurt, which can be a good way to get protein without loading up on red meat.

Look for healthier drink options. There should be 100% fruit juice available at your school during lunch time, as well as milk options like fat-free or low-fat, with no added sugars or flavors. Your school should offer at least two types of milk, as well as fruit juices. Try to avoid sugary drinks like soda or fruit juices with added sugar from the vending machines at school.

Limit your portions. Portion control is an important way to maintain a healthy diet at school and to ensure you are getting all the nutrients and energy you need for the day. Divide your plate into four sections, with dairy (in the form of fat-free or low-fat milk) on the side. Your plate should be balanced with four types of food: fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein like meat, beans, or tofu. You should have about one cup of grains like rice or pasta, and one cup of vegetables and fruits. Clench your fist and place it over your plate. These portions should be no bigger than your clenched fist. The meat or protein portion should be about as big as your palm. Added fats like butter, mayo, or salad dressing should be the size of the top of your thumb. None of your food should overlap or be piled high. There should be a small amount of space between each of the four food groups.