Weight seems to be a big issue these days especially for teenagers. The media is telling us that the only way to be beautiful is to be slim, toned and size 8 or 10 (size 0 for you Americans), but what they fail to recognize is that not every one is naturally slim and have to work to get there which most people find extremely hard.

We should not be pressured by the media or our peers if your 100% happy with your body then don’t change a thing. However I do know there are a lot of teens who are not happy with there weight and want to change, which is why i am writing this to hopefully give you enough information for you to do something about it. If you are one of these people don’t think that you cannot acheive your target weight if you carry on hating your appearance it can lead to serious depression, you need to be motivated and positive to achieve your goal.

Regardless of what you read in this article you need to bear in mind that you are still teenagers and your bodies are still developing.

Your body mass index (bmi) will determine if your are either under weight, ideal, over weight or obese.

To work out what your Body Mass Index (BMI) is for your height and weight click on the link appropriate to your age.

• NHS - www.childrenfirst.nhs.uk (17 & under)

• BBC – www.bbc.co.uk (18 & over)

If the BMI says that you are either over weight or obese you should act on it (for health reasons alone). Please remember that both can lead to serious health problems such as:

• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Diseases related to hardening of the arteries such heart attack as and stroke (cardiovascular disease).
• Type two diabetes
• Some types of cancer.

If the BMI says that you are under weight you can also be in danger of health problems such as:

• Weak immune system
• Anemia
• Hair loss
• Infertility
• Problems during pregnancy

How to loose the weight

The healthiest way to lose weight is neither crash diets nor bursts of exercise. Your body uses food for energy. It stores any excess energy as fat. This means if you eat more food than your body needs you will gain weight.

To lose weight, you need to get your body to use up the fat. The most effective way to do this is to:

• Reduce the amount of calories you eat.
  
• Increase your levels of activity.

To keep your weight down you will still need to eat less (unhealthy food) and/or do more physical activity than before. To keep off and maintain your weight you will still need to:

• Eat about 300 calories per day less than you did prior to the weight loss diet, or
• Do more physical activity to ‘burn up’ an extra 300 calories per day, or
• A combination of the two.

Try switching your foods to a healthier option for e.g white bread to wholemeal, coco pops to weetabix and a chocolate bar with either fruit or a cereal bar. When choosing your food check the nutritional info and take in consideration how much sugar, fat, saturates and calories it contains before consuming. Try eating smaller meals and snack portions and increase your fruit and vegetable portion also switch your fizzy drinks to water.

Exercise can play a very important role in your weight loss (should be easier for you because teens are more active than adults, although tiredness is a sign of an unhealthy diet) and you wont need to spend loads of money in a gym. Why not join a school activity such as dance, netball, football and hockey. If you dont live too far away try walking to school, shops and your friends house instead of a bus or getting your parents to give you a lift. Swimming is a good way to burn calories too.

Being Underweight

If you are underweight and want to put some weight on to bring you up to a healthier weight you need to take in more calories than you burn. Doing toning exercises helps, too. Make meals a little larger by adding an extra spoonful of pasta, rice or potato. Remember it is possible for a person to be underweight, but have an unhealthy amount of body fat, and this is just as dangerous as being overweight. So you will need to exercise and eat healthy foods just eat larger portions.

If you are finding it hard to either loose the weight or put weight on it might be good idea to consult a doctor as there could be something preventing you from achieving your target weight.

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