Im so sorry for being away - but lately life has been a bit demanding.
While I wait for REAL spring to arrive here in The North ( yesterday it was 12 c and so wonderful with crocus blooming everywhere)- today it is rainy and so windy - again.
I thought Ill write about teenagers diet - life.
When babies are small - we never imagine that some day very soon - we will have to let them go - and not control everything they put into their mouth.
Yesterday there was a rather shocking article in one of the Danish newspapers about the health of Danish teenagers.
What really struck me was
the inactive life they had,
the high alcohol use
and the lack of fresh fruit and veggies in their diet
- only 1 out of 10 children got at least 600 grams of fruit/veggies pr day- and more girls than boys.
I´m a mother of a teenager- Emma is 13,5 now and since the age of 6 years she has lived the blood type diet way- she is an O so she eats LOTS if green veggies, a variety of fruit (but no oranges) - lots of beef, lamb and fish - very little dairy- mainly ghee/butter, fresh cheese like feta and mozzarella - some grains and beans - but no wheat.
ALMOST never sugar and fast food.
The last 2-3 years I have added the NT way of preparing the food.
She is a natural slim girl
- but until the age of 2 -I would call her a sumo baby - and she was rather stocky at 6 as well- but the chubbiness just gave her energy to grow - she is 1.72 cm and still growing around 5 cm more…
So I get very upset when I see doctors warn against chubby babies and put them on low fat - high starch diets… most of these small babies are fine- but their older sisters and brothers are NOT
I find it rather easy to see if a child is healthy chubby or unhealthy fat.
As a teacher I see several kids with lots of fat on their backside / around their tummy - with rather thin legs and arms- that is danger for me.
But a natural round baby with chubby arms and legs- a rosy face is fine with me.
Some of Emma´s friends are extremely thin- with pale faces and bad skin. When you are 13- 15 sure it is normal to have a messed up skin -while your hormones finds their normal level - but these girls just lacks nourishment.
Sleep
First of all -they sleep a max. of 7- 6 hours and most teens need around 10
- but they have such a hard time to get up early and fall asleep at night
- it is natural since most teens have an owl/b like approach to sleeping- but sadly they need to get up around 6-7 = too little sleep. In the weekend most of them sleep so long often to 12 and then it is REALLY hard to get back to a more normal sleep pattern.
In an ideal world - the teenagers would start school at 10 … but they don´t! so it is helpful to help them maintain a more normal sleep pattern in the weekend -only let them sleep to 8/9 and not get to bed too late. Body can handle a change of 1-2 hours from normal schedule in the weekend- not more.
-maybe let the nap in the afternoon if they care to.
Helpful is also turning tv/computer off at least 1 hour before bedtime
also keeping their room fairly dark- let them read or take a long shower in the evening- it helps their bodies to get more tired.
Fresh air and sunlight
The majority of teens lacks fresh air and vitamin D from sun.
Most of the teens I see sits in a bus all morning/afternoon on their way to school.
They attend school from 8- 15 in small rooms with 25-28 students with bad indoor air - they dont spend their breaks during school outdoors - but in front of the computers or with friends at the wards.
At home they have schoolwork, chores, maybe work to do- before the internet and telly calls their name.
The lack of fresh air and sun = bad complexions, headaches, bad sleep patterns and worse a bad vitamin D status - since vitamin D rich food is NOT common..
So it is helpful if you can help your teen in this area.
Maybe give them chores that involve fresh air- ride their bikes to the shops, walk the dog- help with garden work.
VERY LIKELY the whole family needs more fresh air /exercise - so take the family out on long walks in the weekend - or just take your teen on a walk on a normal day - it is surprising how much you suddenly learn about your teens life - when you just walk with him or her alone.
Exercise.
In Denmark most teens gets 2x 45 minutes exercise in school and that is not at all enough - children and teens needs at least 1 hour pr day.
Try to keep your teen active /interested in sports- often around 11-12 - teens stops playing ball - doing gymnastics etc in their leisure time - and that is sad and dangerous.
My daughter has stopped formal sports - but have started to run with a friend 2x a week- and at least 1 x a weeks she walks with me and the dog for at least 1 hour.
She is active in the garden and with the work with chopping and moving wood for heating.
I would love her to do more but it is a compromise.
Food and drink
When it comes to teenagers it need to be fast, easy and colourful.
3 years ago my daughter would happily make her own lunch - but today if I want her to eat well - I need to help her at every meal- make the options easy - peel veggies- keep easy fruit to eat etc.
Often she eats left overs from dinner- a salad with cold meat or fish, fresh fruit - crispy nuts are very popular- but kids differ. Listen to what they want to eat - and make healthy option TOGETHER.
Teens can become real gourmets if you teach them- ask them to help cooking dinner a few times during the week- and they learn to appreciate real food.
When it comes to sweets and chips - soft drinks etc………
make compromises - bake a real cake ( even if it has sugar) make ice cream- make home made chips/crisps/popcorn.
Get nice juice or cordials with no weird stuff in.- teens need that kind of stuff when they have friends over- but if the quality of what your serve is good, they wont complain about these home-made but better choices than mcdonalds and mars bars.
And let them cheat when it is a special time- after years my daughter sometimes crave a big mac- she gets one 1-2 a year - and while she enjoys it… it is more the thought of it than the flavour… she prefers our home-made ones.
Compromise - let them make their mistakes- laugh- listen to them- be there
and your teen will be healthy and happy.
Enjoy him or her- soon they will be gone - and hopefully they will give you healthy grandchildren.
About the Author...
I am a 35 year old woman who lives with my teendaughter in an old wooden house on a hilltop in Denmark. I have got a BA in prehistoric archeology and got a teacherdegree as well. I love books, plants, animals, kids and nourishing food.
Feb 27th, 2008 at 3:55 am
Thanks Henriette, I enjoyed your article! My son is a long way off from being a teenager (18mo) but the day will come, and it’s good to keep in mind that I, the parent, will help determine his eating habits by helping him make good choices now. This is also an excellent article for my line of work. As a personal trainer I see several teenagers (sadly) whom are as you describe; lethargic, under nourished, with pale skin and bad acne. It’s so hard to restrain myself from having a stern word with their parents, but I know in the end,the child chooses whether they eat their meals or not. So I’ve been enjoying trying to bestow nourishing wisdom upon them to help them see that energy and vitality, along with being in good shape, comes from food. You wouldn’t believe how many shocked teenage girls I get when I tell them that eating breakfast can actually help them lose weight, a concept that I tiptoe around due to the amount of eating disorders.
Thanks for bringing your parenting wisdom to the forum!
Feb 27th, 2008 at 8:58 am
Thanks for sharing your viewpoints. I agree completely. I live in the US and am sure that our children are in similar dire straits when it comes to health. I would love a copy or a pointer to the article you mention. It might be interesting to share with my teen daughter who sometimes thinks Mom doesn’t know what she is talking about.
Feb 27th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Read this article this morning..
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/node/1867
about teen age brains and their development.
I guess your darling is on daily CLO for Vit D and A. I wonder if she’ll not experience over emotional states as a teen because she’s so nourished.
Do you think this whole teen ager thing is a modern concept?
Here’s an article that suggests it is. Looking into our ancestry, there were really just children and then adults. Many had initiations and rites of passage to signify the time but none had in between years like we do. I wonder if our lowered nutritional status is what is making the transition to adulthood harder.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/index.php?term=pto-20070302-000002&page=1
Feb 27th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Joanne
Thank you for your links - very interesting.
I agree a lot with the Psychology today article : that we have created an unnatural LOOONG period between childhood and adulthood
When my mum grew up they were children until 15-16 and adult from 18 or so
When I grew up we were children until 13-14 and adults around 18-20.
I had my daughter when I was 22 and I was an ADULT - not a teen.
Today children are only children until around 10 and first adult 25-30 years !
At the same time I have no doubts that are bad nutrition and the lack of membership /role in the family for the teen matters a lot !
When I was a kid - young teens still had important roles in the family - they were needed in every day life - and when they showed responsibility = they were given more freedom / rights to decide things.
Today there is not the same partnership between taking part in family life- showing responsibility - freedom Often kids use their home as a service-station- they get fuel( food) - service ( clean clothes, pockets money - a nice room ) but they do not participate much in the family life
= you get adults who do not want to grow up and take responsibility - who ask for more and more- who are selfish and panic when they have kids- the average age for the first child in Denmark is 29 - and we have VERY FEW teen mums… so ???
and when these young people have kids they are so surprised that life is so complex- that they can´t put themselves first … that the baby need them- a lot of young people do not know how to use a washing machine or do the shopping so the foodmoney lasts a whole week and not just a day or two.
About moody teens
Most kids I know life of a white diet -low fat high sugar yoghurt- white bread - white pasta - juice - sodas candy - and very little fresh produce -so I´m not surprised they are more moody than they had to be and when you add lack of sleep, fresh air and exercise you are asking for trouble…
I once had a girl staying who only knew minced/ground meat and chicken, and fish fingers !!!
Emma gets CLO during Oct- April
and salmon oil the rest of the time and her mood is quite well compared to most of her friends.
Only thing: I would love is to get her hormones even more straighten out( balanced )
- she still seem to have quite heavy and long periods after a year of periods.
Any tips ?
Feb 27th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Mira and Lacey thanks for your comments
The article was in Danish so :-D unless you read danish ?
Feb 28th, 2008 at 5:34 am
Henriette, I don’t read Danish but my cousin who lives in Copenhagen does and perhaps I could get him to translate it for me so I’d love to see the link.
About your daughter’s cycle….unfortunately it can take some young ladies up to three years for their bodies to even out. As long as her B vitamins and Iron levels are okay I would say wait. There are herbs that can help regulate the cycle but I would be hesitatnt to use them so close to the beginning of menarche.
Joanne, I read that article and definitely agree with you. I do feel that lack of nutrition may have quite a bit to do with it (and wish I had started earlier and known more for my own children) but I also believe it is in part due to parents who are unwilling to give up control and allow their children the freedom to make mistakes. Everyone is covered in cotton wool these days. My children are among the few in our small town who are not overly scheduled with activities, who are encouraged to figure things out and yet are also supported in their decisions when they make mistakes and need to figure out how to handle the consequences of these decisions. Am I a perfect parent? Absolutely not, but I hope that I am equipping my children to think and process for themselves and to move gracefully into adulthood whever it happens.
Feb 28th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Thank you for this article. It’s nice to have some ideas. My kids are 9 and 11 so we are getting to the teen-age years soon. Hopefully nourishing them well now will help form good habits for always.
Lisa
Feb 28th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Mira
Thank you for your comment - ok 3 years ! She has to be patient then ;-D
She eats plenty of greens and beef - and her levels of iron seem fine.
I agree about wrapping kids in cottonwool.
Here is a link to the survey about danish kids :
http://fpn.dk/liv/krop_valvare/article1277886.ece
Apr 22nd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Henriette, how are you going with growing a woman? Have you done any spiritual work with Em? Initiation? Red Tent (great book have you red it?). This month we’re giving a prize to the best contribution to the conversation about Feminine Energy. Wanna join?
http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/feminine-mystique
Apr 22nd, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Loved The red tent - such a wonderful book :-)
I have thought long a careful about this about raising a new woman- I want Emma to read the red tent among other books. She is struggling a bit about being a woman in a modern world- I think I have raised an amazon ;-D
Girlpower in her world rules…..
Been so busy - will try to post a new blog this week.
Thank you for asking