I would like to start by commenting that sometimes I sound quite repetitive when mentioning that they must go to a consultation to carry out an assessment and be able to carry out a nutritional diagnosis in order to to search for solutions.

A few days ago I received a message of a mother who sounded somewhat desperate for information and especially answers about her children’s nutritional education.

I am of the idea that the foundations of a healthy diet must be forged from an early age, however, situations where the control is out of our hands and one of those stages is in adolescence.

¨Occasionally parents tell me – ¨The same thing that you mentioned, I had already told them! ¨ but they want to hear it from someone else 😤. Although this sounds funny… it’s true !! 👩🏻‍⚕️ ¨

Multiple factors can affect young people at this stage of life, from hormonal changes, (… This is when I pause with a Did you know what? In adolescence, men tend to produce more testosterone and women more estrogen, which , in men it produces an ease to increase muscle mass and on the contrary ( as we always do not? ) women to increase body fat ), the appearance of menstruation in the case of women, changes in mood, they become more independent, among other points … However, regarding the text there are several points that I consider necessary to clarify:

1. Mention that the father is not living with them and somehow blames him for how badly his daughter is eating : Comprehensive treatment would come in here from my point of view … the intervention of a psychologist as a first step would be completely necessary. There is a phrase that perhaps you have already heard that says like this ¨ I swallow my courage ¨ is very true, because sometimes as parents they expose their feelings but… how about them? Have you asked him how he feels about the separation? ..
2. Each one requires different attention: According to what is mentioned, the eldest son is the example, but the closer we get to the youngest apparently things are not going well with regard to food. We cannot say that he will grow up like his brother if there is an energy deficit, it is always essential to carry out an assessment to know from all points what is actually happening at home and may be affecting the young person’s diet. A few years ago I dedicated myself to working with a family in the United States ( what they call babysitter ), they have 2 beautiful daughters, whom I they allowed me to put my nutritionist skills into practice for a time; However, the parents’ diet was not the most correct (although they believed it was), very occasionally the girls went to eat fast food (it is also allowed) and I realized that the youngest girl (she was in adequate weight) ate a little of her hamburger and apple slices and the rest of the time she loved to play in the games of the facilities, but unlike her, the oldest ( for 3 years) he ate what was due to him but he couldn’t see that we didn’t finish our food because he wanted to eat them too, even saying to go play, his insistence to finish everything was stronger. Definitely, I had to apply the techniques of catching up with her and patiently explaining why not, and especially talking to the parents. The little ones learn by example.
3. Avoid using words or phrases related to “getting fat” : Talking about weight It is something strong that not everyone likes. Concentrate on identifying which foods they like (that are healthy) and those that are not to their liking, begin to explain why they consume them. It happened to me with a patient who did not like beets … Why? not even he knew it, but when I told him what it did to the arteries and how it improves athletic performance… well, no way…. whatever it takes to improve performance … hahahaha now he only orders his beet smoothie with celery and other vegetables.

I could definitely write and write about this topic because I know there will be more people with similar situations. I highly recommend going for both a nutritional and psychological assessment.

At BND we care about educating young people by offering workshops and nutrition consultations in order to guide them in the Choosing and consuming different types of food, we support both the parent and the young person in the adoption of healthy eating habits, nutritional strategies, work tools at home etc …

We know that you are looking for the best for your child, for that reason we invite you to our workshops as part of the BNDjr: #Eat like a winner!