Fitness and Nutrition for Adolescents
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Good nutrition and plenty of exercise are the building blocks for strong growth, healthy development, and lifelong wellbeing for children. Exercise during adolescence helps to strengthen muscles and bones for development. At the same time, good nutrition ensures that the adolescent gets the proper nutrients for healthy growth and development. Both go hand in hand to ensure the individual can grow to become healthy.
Exercise Information
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Helps enhance or maintain physical fitness, overall health and wellness
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Helps reduce the risk of developing diseases such as type 2 diabetes
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Promotes a healthier state of mind
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Different types of exercises:
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Endurance (aerobic)
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Keeps heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve overall fitness
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Strength (resistance training)
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Makes muscles stronger
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Balance
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Helps with walking on uneven surfaces and helps prevents falls
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Flexibility
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Helps the body to stay limb and stretches muscles (Better Health, 2018 & MedlinePlus, 2020)
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Nutrition Information
Exercise Advice
Exercise is important for adolescents to adopt in their everyday lives. Here are some recommendations that adolescence can adhere to:
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About 60 minutes or more of exercise each day.
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Exercise should be moderate to vigorous aerobic, muscle, and bone-strengthening training (at three days of the week for each of these activities).
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Anaerobic training can be performed but with adult supervision so that the adolescent will avoid the risk of injury or overtraining.
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Ensure that the adolescent is participating in multiple activities and sports. Doing so will decrease the chances of them losing interest in exercise.
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Weight training has been shown to protect from injury compared to myths stating that weight training at a young age is dangerous. It is important to monitor the adolescent to avoid overworking himself or getting injured. Adolescents will mostly gain neural mechanisms and hypertrophy from weightlifting
(Powers, 2018, Kenney, 2020 & Mercer, 2021)
Nutrition Advice
Consuming a variety of foods will ensure all the macronutrients are met. But also will ensure micronutrient daily requirements are met. Such micronutrients that are important are iron. calcium, folate, vitamin A-D, etc.
(Brown, 2020)
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Recommended calorie intake:​
- ​Children ages 9-13​
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Females: 2071 calories a day
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Males: 2279 calories a day
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Children ages 14-18
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Females: 2368 calories a day ​
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Males: 3152 calories a day
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- ​Children ages 9-13​
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Protein is an important macronutrient that children should consume. They should consume about 0.85g/kg of body weight per day.
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Protein will help with growth and development while aiding in proper body recovery after working out. ​
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Proteins supply 4 calories per gram
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About 10-30% of daily intake should come from proteins
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Great sources of protein: chicken, eggs, nuts, and some dairy products
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Carbohydrates are important for children to consume because this is the primary source of energy the body uses. Without proper carbohydrate intake, the individual won't have the energy to complete daily tasks.
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About 45-65% of daily intake must come from carbohydrates
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Carbohydrates supply 4 calories per gram
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Great courses of carbohydrates: fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain items
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Fats are important for the growth and development of an adolescent. Individuals get linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid from essential fatty acids which help with growth and development.
- ​About 25-35% of daily intake should come from fats ​
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Fats supply 9 calories per gram
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Great sources of fat: avocados, nuts, fish, and olive oil
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Consume FRESH and REAL foods
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Avoid consuming prepacked or frozen foods
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Fuel your body with the real things and not any of the fakes
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Pack snacks or meal prep
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Don’t skip meals!
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Stay hydrated
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Replenish after a practice session, exercise session, or even after a hot day
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Replenish with fluids, electrolytes, protein, and carbohydrates for a faster recovery
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Ask for nutritional help
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​If unsure of what your body needs to be properly fueled, talk to a health professional, like a Registered Dietitian.
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Consume a wide variety of nutritious foods
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Incorporate different colored foods to deliver more nutrition to your body
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The different colors of the food you eat have phytonutrients that aid different parts of your body such as alpha and beta carotene when consumed turn into vitamin A within the body which aids in bone, vision, skin, and immune health.
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Maintain a healthy weight
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Don’t cut out certain food groups just because they are causing a weight gain
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You can limit some food groups, but make sure to follow the recommended portions for adequate growth and development (Bingham et al., 2015)
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