Your teen's strange new body

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Body image
Body image problems are on the increase for both teenage girls and boys. Role models on TV, on billboards and in magazines set impossible standards that kids feel they should measure up to. Boys can get caught up in wanting muscles that ripple. Girls stand in front of the mirror poking at their tiny waists, which they perceive as blubbery.

Health Canada's 1998 survey The Health of Canada's Youth found that 27 per cent of 13-year-old girls and 28 per cent of 15-year-old girls said they need to lose weight. When teenage girls compare their looks with those of the women they see in movies and on TV, it's not a level playing field. Adolescence is a time of voracious eating and rapid growth. It's common and perfectly normal for girls approaching puberty to look chubby. Girls need a relatively high percentage of body fat for menstruation to begin.

Between the ages of 10 and 14, the average girl gains 18 to 22 kg (40 to 50 lb.). The steadily rising numbers on the bathroom scale can seem scary. This weight gain can be especially alarming to a girl growing up in North America, home of the multi-billion-dollar beauty business.

A study of girls aged 14 to 18 in Nova Scotia found that 44 per cent of them were dieting. If your teen tries out several diets, she faces the risk of developing an eating disorder as well as the risk of gaining weight instead of losing it. When she restricts her intake of food, her appetite increases. Soon, all she can think about are burgers and fries. Inevitably she'll satisfy her hunger with a bag of chips or, more likely, half the contents of your fridge. Then she'll feel ashamed and out of control.

Inherited body size
The current notion that you can have any body you want is more fantasy than fact. Good eating habits and exercise help shape and condition the body, but some people are naturally petite, others naturally tall, some slender and others large. Larger teens do not necessarily eat more than their slender friends. There's increasing evidence that we all have an inherited set-point, a certain optimal weight that is genetically determined, like hair colour and height.

The body struggles to maintain the set-point, so it may crave foods in a desperate attempt to remain healthy. The only way to lower the set-point is through adequate eating and regular aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is continuous movement that makes the heart beat faster, but not to the point of puffing. In aerobic exercise, you should be able to speak comfortably. To reap the most benefit from aerobic exercise, you should maintain the activity for at least 20 continuous minutes. Exercising to lower the set-point, and not for the joy of physical activity, can be deadening. It's important to preach overall good health and acceptance. Body size is not a choice.

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