Guest blog by Drake Gerdes, age 13. Getting teenagers to eat healthily can be quite a tough task. It all narrows down to what teenager you are talking to. Some teenagers want to eat healthy and exercise, but others couldn’t care less. Teenagers are getting to the point in their own lives where they like to decide for themselves who they want to be. However, for the teenagers who don’t care as much, there are a few things you can do to progress their desire to be healthy – you can let them shop for the food, you can let them cook the food, and you can be sneaky about it.
First, you can let the teenagers shop for the food themselves; this will let them gain an entirely new appreciation for the food that is going to be prepared for them. Picking their own food can also let them choose a little more of what you want for that meal. Let’s say that the meal would be tacos; let your teenager decide some of the not so important parts of the recipe. Whether it is deciphering between the type of shell, deciding between corn or beans, etc. Letting teenagers shop for their food will give them a new sense of responsibility that may help them gain a new sense of gratitude for eating healthy.
Secondly, letting the teenager cook may also be a great option. If your teenager is bad at picking the food, then let them cook the food. Most teenagers can follow a recipe pretty well; you’ve just never let them. Even if they make a mistake, they will most likely learn from the mistake, and it won’t happen again. Letting your teenager cook might give them a new appreciation for the food prepared every night. Overall, I think that letting your teenager cook is a great idea that may spark their fire to eat healthily.
Thirdly, sneaking in some healthy content may be an easy way as well. Now obviously, giving them vegetables instead of chips and salsa may be a little too far, but maybe giving them flavored water instead of a sprite may shock you. Usually, a minor change isn’t minded by most teens, so use this to your advantage. Using a minor change of diet may be one of the best choices for getting your teen to eat healthily.
Lastly, I think that getting your teenager to eat healthily is either an easy task or a little bit of a harder one. It really all depends on who it is, if you have a teen who is willing to eat healthily or a teenager who would rather eat something truly delicious over something that will be good for them. Getting teenagers to eat healthily is an otherwise hard task that can hopefully be a little easier with these tricks.
