Parenting the larger teen
If your teenager is overweight, you should, of course, consult her doctor and perhaps ask for a referral to a dietitian. With the help of a dietitian, she can analyze what she eats to see if her weekly consumption is too high in calories.
Also check whether she has opportunities to exercise. Teens can feel vulnerable and totally exposed in the high school gym. Joining the high school intramural volleyball team is likely not the answer for the overweight teen. Cycling, walking or working out to an exercise video are more realistic options.
If you're sure that your child is exercising and that her diet is good, then relax. Being plump is usually not a health issue. It's more dangerous to be 30 per cent underweight than 30 per cent overweight. The real danger is the social stigma that can go along with being overweight.
To spare your teen ridicule about her weight, you may find yourself becoming critical of her eating habits. Or you may he repulsed by the way her stomach sags over her jeans. If you don't feel comfortable with your teen's body, it could be time to look at your own attitudes about body shape.
If parents criticize their teen's body, who else will hold her steady through the storm of adolescence? Parents need to help their kids eat sensibly and adjust to whatever body nature has given them. It's worth pointing out that most of us manage to lead happy and satisfying lives despite having wide hips or a thick waistline.
Body image in boys
A growing number of boys feel pressured to achieve a hard, lean body. For some boys this pressure turns into an obsession with a particular body image. Getting hooked on a look can lead to excessive exercising, unhealthy eating patterns and steroid use. A large-scale study by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport found that almost half of the young men who use steroids do so to change their appearance.
Appearance is exceedingly important to young men. When they like how they look, they feel better about themselves, more accepted by their peers and more sexually attractive. Parents shouldn't shrug off the pressures boys feel to get "the look." The message that teenage boys are bombarded with today is that if you have a "ripped" body, you're cool. Watch the guys with defined muscles running along the beach in your son's TV shows. Glance at the abs (abdominal muscles) in magazine ads. Take a close look at the undulating washboard stomachs in music videos. This focus on male physique didn't exist 25 years ago.
While many teenage girls say they want to lose weight, their male counterparts may want to gain weight. One Canadian study found that by age 13, about 21 per cent of boys say they need to gain weight. The numbers on the bathroom scale are already going up at a phenomenal rate. Between ages 12 and 16, a boy typically gains between 22 and 27 kg (50 and 60 lb.).
If your son feels he's too thin, you may find that cans of amino acids or protein powder supplements suddenly appear in the kitchen. Contrary to what your son may believe, these products do not directly lead to muscle development. They don't even promote health. Over time, they can affect his body's excretion of calcium and his kidney function, but fortunately, their use is usually self-limiting. They don't have an appealing taste and they quickly wipe out a teen's savings.
Of male high school students, 36 per cent said they would like to change how they look. Some boys may be trying to outgrow their feelings of being small or weak as children. The embarrassment of always being picked last for sports teams may still sting. Others are certain that girls look the other way when they walk down the hall. They believe that a more developed body will get them dates.
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