Healthy Diet Reference Standards for Teenagers

The clinical nutrition school prefers to adjust based on individual physical examination indicators, the sports nutrition school prefers to dynamically adjust the diet structure based on daily activity, and the public health school prefers to provide universal dietary taboos from the perspective of group prevention and control.

When I was attending a free youth nutrition clinic in the community last year, I met several children who had family conflicts because they "must drink a pound of pure milk every day." There was a boy in the second grade of junior high school who was lactose intolerant. He had gas and diarrhea when he drank pure milk. His mother chased after him and force-fed him, saying, "Everyone else's children drink it, but you won't grow taller if you don't." Are lactose intolerant children destined to not receive calcium supplements? Of course not. The judgment standard of the clinical nutritionists always only looks at the intake and not the source: teenagers aged 10-17 years old need 1000-1200mg of calcium every day. If they can't drink pure milk, they can switch to Shuhua milk or sugar-free yogurt. If they really don't like dairy products, they can still meet the standard by eating 100g of braised tofu and a handful of rapeseed every day, plus 15 minutes of sun exposure every day to supplement vitamin D. Of course, there are also traditional health-preserving people who believe that "milk is cold in nature and is not as nourishing as soy milk." Objectively speaking, the absorption rate of soy calcium is indeed about 30% lower than that of dairy products. As long as the appropriate amount is added and ingredients are used to promote absorption, it can fully meet the needs. There is no need to compete with children for a certain ingredient.

After talking about the issue of calcium supplementation ingredients that everyone is most troubled about, let’s talk about whether the “snack ban” that has been argued for several years is right or not. The universal advice given by the public health school is to avoid processed snacks that are high in oil, sugar and salt. This conclusion is supported by data: a 2023 National Health Commission survey showed that the overweight and obesity rate among adolescents aged 10-18 in my country has reached 19%, and nearly 30% of children consume more than twice the recommended amount of added sugar every day. The main sources are snacks such as milk tea, puffed food, and candied fruits. Many children have been diagnosed with dyslipidemia in junior high school. But if this suggestion is applied to children who have exercise habits, there is no need to be too stuck. I once met a high school sophomore girl on the school volleyball team. Her mother was afraid that she would gain weight and would not let her eat anything with sugar even after training. As a result, she became dizzy and had low blood sugar during training several times. Later, we adjusted her plan: eat normally every day, and after training, she can eat a popsicle or a small bag of original potato chips to quickly replenish the consumed glycogen. Now her sports performance is stable, and her physical examination indicators in the past six months are all within the normal range. The point of view of the sports nutritionists is very clear: snacks are not a scourge. The core is to look at the timing and total amount of intake. As long as the daily consumption can cover the extra calories consumed, eating favorite foods occasionally can help children maintain a better condition.

Rather than worrying about what to eat, many parents actually ignore that "how to eat" has a greater impact. We previously conducted a dietary survey in three local middle schools and found that 62% of the children spent less than 15 minutes eating lunch, and nearly 40% of the children were accustomed to eating dinner while doing homework. The detection rate of indigestion and chronic gastritis among these two types of children was more than three times higher than that of children who spent more than 20 minutes eating and concentrated on eating. There are also many children who are in a hurry in the morning, drink a glass of ice milk on an empty stomach and then run to school, or stay up until 12 o'clock at night to eat a bowl of heavy oil instant noodles as a late night snack. These habits are much more harmful to the gastrointestinal tract than eating an occasional snack.

There are also many parents who ask whether they should give their children supplements, but here is where to pour cold water: the general advice from clinical pediatrics is that as long as the child is not severely picky about food and can eat enough staple food, meat and eggs, vegetables, and fruits every day, there is no need to take additional supplements such as DHA and multivitamins. I have seen parents spend more than 3,000 yuan to buy imported "intelligence-enhancing brain tablets". The complete list shows ordinary DHA plus B vitamins. It is not as cost-effective as giving their children salmon twice a week and a handful of nuts every day. Of course, if the child really does not eat deep-sea fish at all and does not like to touch dark green vegetables, he can supplement it appropriately according to the trace element results of the physical examination. Don't believe in the gimmicks of "brain supplementation" and "height increase".

To put it bluntly, this reference standard is never the standard answer on the test paper, but more like a dynamically adjusted navigation - there is no need to stick to every step and the route is exactly the same. As long as the general direction is correct, it is perfectly fine to occasionally take a detour to eat your favorite food. After all, children who eat happily and grow strong are more reliable than any cold standards, right?