Turning around your teen’s nutrition disaster

Movie remakes we don’t want to see: “Fast Food at Ridgemont High” or any in a “The Fast Food and the Furious” series. Fast and ultraprocessed foods have flooded movie screens, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine study, reinforcing tweens’ and teens’ inclination to load up on unhealthy foods.

In fact, the American adolescent’s diet had gotten so unhealthy that, according to a new report from the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, ultraprocessed foods -- loaded with artificial ingredients and woefully short on nutrients -- account for 42% to 88% of tweens’ and teens’ daily diet. As a result, say the researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids are eating “snacks, drinks, ready meals and many other products ... with little if any intact food.” Stripped, dipped and sipped, these products do little but pack on pounds, cause inflammation and up kids’ risk of premature heart disease. We suggest they can cause other health woes, too, from diabetes and depression to obesity-related cancers.

So Mom and Dad, this is a wake call. Help your teen go green. Explain the benefits of ditching ultraprocessed foods (more energy, better skin, a happier future with fewer disabilities). And talk about how eating real food is good for the planet, too (less plastics, fewer large animal farms)! Teens like causes to become passionate about -- help make healthy foods one your kid embraces. Also, keep the house stocked with healthy choices for snacking, taking on the road and sharing with friends, such as packages of nuts, sliced fruits, unsweetened yogurts, salmon burgers and smoothies.