Adolescence is a crucial stage in a person’s growth. There is often a dramatic increase in energy and physical activity during this phase. It is imperative to get the required nutrition to meet their developmental needs at this stage. Any deficiency in this can hinder the child’s growth and overall health.
Adolescents today are obsessed with junk food, contributing to nutritional inadequacies and the development of eating disorders. Obesity is a common mishap of this unhealthy obsession.
It is observed that some teens fast to lose weight. But is fasting safe? Can fasting help lose weight? And how can we lose weight safely? We will find the answers to these questions in this article.
Can Fasting Help In Weight Loss?
Fasting is either completely avoiding calories or severely limiting its consumption for a specific period of time. Several fad diets promote fasting for weight loss. These diets often do not have any scientific evidence to support their claim.
Here they suggest sticking to a particular diet and restricting the consumption of anything else. We should be cautious about such claims because they can cause severe health problems.
This is mainly because they restrict the intake of key food items. Therefore, if you are considering fasting to lose weight believing these claims, you may want to reconsider.
Additionally, if fasting is done without the supervision of a doctor, it can result in more weight gain and cause irrevocable health issues. While fasting your metabolism slows down, resulting in weight loss.
But once you stop fasting, your appetite revs back and you go back to your usual diet. This leaves you feeling hungrier, making you eat more and gain more weight than you had. Hence, doctors and dietitians suggest following a healthy diet rather than fasting to lose weight.
Is Fasting Safe For Teens?
In healthy adults fasting for a few days won’t be an issue. But if they continue to fast for a longer period, they would start to notice signs of fatigue and dehydration.
This is mainly because of the insufficient supply of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients in the body. However, intermittent fasting is observed to be beneficial to adults following a healthy diet.
Related: Exercise For Teenagers – Is It Really Important?
But fasting as a whole is not recommended for teenagers as they are in a period of constant growth and development. Research has shown that fasting in kids can put them at risk of malnutrition and eating disorders.
This is true even for overweight or obese teens. Considering this fact most health professionals do not recommend fasting to adolescents, particularly young adults.
What Are The Safest Ways To Lose Weight For Teenagers?
There should not be any dietary restrictions for teens. Instead, we should focus more on healthy diets. Planning snack and meal times can help in managing overindulgence in food. It is recommended to avoid junk food and to include nutrient-rich food like fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains.
These are not just nutritious but also help with healthy weight loss. Notice if they are skipping meals, if so, eating together can be a way to make sure they are having enough food. Encouraging them in doing physical activities can also help in losing weight significantly.
Also, remind them to drink enough water, this can lessen cravings. And lastly, make sure they are getting at least 7-8 hours of sleep. Getting enough sleep lessens the stress. This is said to help reduce dependency on food and fight the incidence of stress eating.
Final Thoughts
To summarise, it can be concluded that fasting is said to have no promising benefits on weight loss in teens. Moreover, fasting pushes them to higher risks of gaining weight. And most health professionals do not recommend fasting to adolescents, as they are in the phase of constant growth and development.
This means fasting or following a restrictive diet would affect their nutritional requirements. Any deficiency in these will expose them to malnutrition and unhealthy habits, like eating disorders.
The steps discussed in the article are the most effective ways in which we can help teens to lose weight. Moreover, parents should not be hesitant to seek help from doctors or dieticians in finding the best diet plans and advice on maintaining their teen’s weight.
Related: Importance Of Iron And Calcium During Adolescence – A Glance!
