UK's Healthy Lifestyle

Enjoy a healthy lifestyle with great diets and exercise programs, hints and tips on losing weight and staying fit and healthy here at the revamped and updated UK Healthy Lifestyle. Your personal health is the most important thing you can have, so doing all that you can to maintain it makes a lot of good sense.

So what can you do to improve your health if you feel it may be under par? Or what do you need to help you to lose a little weight or tone up a flabby body? And what would you like to be able to do in order to maintain a healthy body once you have achieved what you may consider is the perfect level of personal physical health? All these questions and many more are answered in our collection of helpful and useful health related articles that are written by a professional health and nutrition expert and are original and unique.

Improving Health

Health comes from getting a good proportion of several life qualities that include exercise that brings vitality motivation nutrition action along with a positive mental attitude to wards attaining the perfect level that you should have. Improving health is all about taking action and getting started on the things that will help you, while the rest just naturally follows!

You don't have to do it all by yourself either. If you can't afford the time or the cost to go to teh gym, there always alternatives such as video or DVD fitness programs that you can do at home. If you feel a little under the weather and need a pick me up, then you'll find some really helpful information on just how you can do that right here!

Losing Weight and Toning Up

Are you overweight and in need of some help in shedding some of those unwanted pounds? Do you feel you have become unfit and flabby and need to tighten everything up a little? Find out how in our series on losing weight and toning up!

Maintaining a Healthy Body

Once you have achieved your ideal level of health and fitness, it is all the more important to maintain it. Find out some easy and enjoyable ways of doing exactly that right here in amongst our great articles!

Achieving Fast Measurable Weight Loss

The experts agree that a rate of one pound lost per week is acceptable and this is the figure a person should realistically aim for. But not everyone will fit the preferred "average" and some will lose weight faster than others and others will lose weight more slowly. So what can be done for those who are dissatisfied with their own, personal slow rate of weight reduction? Here are a few ways in which a person can learn how to lose weight fast while keeping things as natural as possible and therefore safe?

There are a great many programs and systems available to help people to lose weight through diet and exercise individually, or a combination of the two. For many people, their chosen strategy will work as long as they stick to their program and don't cheat or relax their level of participation and motivation. But often, while weight is gradually lost over time, there are people who see only very slow results and lose their momentum because they think that it is not working for them.

This is a shame because weight loss is supposed to be gradual and somewhat slow. The experts agree that a rate of one pound lost per week is acceptable and this is the figure a person should realistically aim for. But not everyone will fit the preferred "average" and some will lose weight faster than others and others will lose weight more slowly. So what can be done for those who are dissatisfied with their own, personal slow rate of weight reduction? Here are a few ways in which a person can learn how to lose weight fast while keeping things as natural as possible and therefore safe?

Increase Metabolism

Often the thing that keeps certain people losing weight at a very slow, often almost non-existent rate is the sluggishness of their physical metabolism. In its most simplistic terms, this is the body's process that converts food into energy and then causes that energy to be used up at a certain rate, which is often referred to as the metabolic rate.

Some people have a slow metabolic rate while other people have a fast metabolic rate and most of us have a metabolism that runs somewhere in between those two extremes. If you believe you have a slow metabolic rate that is causing your attempt to lose weight to run out at a very slow rate, then there are certain things you can do to speed it up.

If you already lead a sedentary lifestyle, then this could be the main reason your metabolic rate is slow. Lack of physical activity causes the body to slow down its life support system to match the rate of activity the body is being made to undertake. It means that you will require much less food to maintain your weight at its correct level because the body will only use the fuel it needs and whatever is left over gets stored as fat for later use. Unfortunately, that "later" never comes and the body just keeps adding more and more fat to its store. This creates weight gain coupled with muscle wastage through lack of use.

To break out of this cycle takes some work, but it can be done. Exercise is the only workable answer in this case.

Getting Exercise

Leading an inactive lifestyle and being overweight is a dangerous mixture when it comes to a person's health and life expectancy. Heath deteriorates and life expectancy shortens! This is not a situation you want to be in. trying to lose weight with a low calorie diet is often unsuccessful because the body, upon receiving even less in the way of nutrition, slows its metabolic rate down even further to compensate! This is why so many people who lead a sedentary lifestyle fail to lose weight on any diet they try. It's not the fault of the diet. It's the fault of the person!

But by getting active on a daily basis, you can slowly increase the body's metabolism to the point where it is burning all the energy you are feeding it through your diet. This brings your body into equilibrium but it will not be enough to cause any weight loss at this point. You have to keep working and keep believing because this can be a hard road that many quit because they don't see rapid results.

But once you get past the equilibrium state by continually increasing the level of exercise each day, then you will be burning more energy than you are consuming. This forces your body to start giving up some of its store of fat to make up the shortfall. Once you start losing weight this way, the effect starts to slowly snowball.

Increased Muscle Strength

Your muscles will grow in strength through extended use, which causes them to demand more fuel to continue working. The further down this road you go, the faster the rate of fat loss because your body is becoming fitter and more efficient as a fat burning machine. But remember that muscle weighs more than fat by volume so that while you are losing fat, you are gaining muscle mass. This will create a strange effect of keeping the rate of weight loss slower than you would naturally expect it to be, while at the same time your body will be getting much slimmer and better toned while looking and feeling fitter.

This physical effect is the real result you need to strive to achieve. Merely losing weight is not enough and without exercise is not sustainable. With daily exercise however, you will find that over the course of several months, you will have increased the rate at which you are losing weight to what would be considered "fast" and this is probably the safest and most productive as well as desirable ways to go about it.

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Maintaining a Healthy Weight

Staying healthy is a really important thing to do, although when you look around you and see so many people not enjoying good health, you may begin to wonder what it is that so many people are doing wrong! A growing number of people are gaining weight and even becoming obese, which is counterproductive when it comes to maintaining good health and so unnecessary when you consider al the very good wight loss tips that are available to read online. So what should you do to maintain a healthy body weight and avoid slipping onto that downward spiral that leads to obesity?
The first thing that anyone who is worried they might gain weight should do is stop worrying about it! Allowing such a destroying mindset to become predominant in your thoughts is highly likely to bring about the very thing that you do not want to happen.

Positive Thinking

It's true that positive thought brings with it a positive nature and that is conducive to good health and a stable body weight. By making some effort to only think about the things that make you happy and feel secure, relaxed and healthy, you will attract those good qualities into your life more and more, while banishing the worrisome thoughts to a place where they can't bother you.

You may notice that many people who spend the majority of their time talking about ill health, whether it is their own or someone else's and thereby predominantly thinking about ill health, they tend to attract ill health to them if they haven't already got it. The trick is to think and talk good health and you will attract that to you.

Diet and Exercise

No article on health and weight would be complete without a few paragraphs on the benefits of eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise as often as possible and every day if that can be done. While it may seem like listening to a well worn record, there is no getting away from the fact that a poor diet and lack of exercise will lead to weight gain and poor health, so it stands to reason that a good diet and lots of exercise will produce better weight control and good health.

What to Eat and What Not to Eat

It almost seems like so much duplication to harp on about the foods that you should not eat and those that you should to make up a healthy diet, yet the statistics yell that too few people are taking any notice! It seems that far too many people believe they can live on a diet of hamburgers, pizza and fries followed by all manner of high calorie puddings and washed down with copious volumes of carbonated, flavoured drinks and retain their health and natural weight. Of course, this way of eating and drinking will catch up with anybody, no matter how fit and healthy they are to begin with.

While it may seem impossible to give up eating all the things that you like to eat, no matter how unhealthy they may be, you really do have to try if you want to . If you can't cut them all out, at least make an effort to cut down drastically and replace them with some good, healthy home cooked meals made from fresh ingredients and not things you buy in packets at the supermarket.

If you are drinking a lot of fizzy drinks, then for heaven's sake, switch to plain water! Yes, I know it's boring and tasteless but it is the best thing to hydrate your body with. And believe it or not, drinking lots of water can really help you lose weight. Unlike carbonated drinks, plain water contains no harmful additives, flavourings or artificial sweeteners and is calorie free. It boosts the efficiency of your digestive system so that less of what you eat gets stored as fat, while it improves your brain to stomach communication system so your stomach can tell your brain that it full quicker, to help you avoid overeating!

Activity Boosts Metabolism

The other side of the health equation when it comes to maintaining a decent physical weight and body shape is to exercise regularly. Keeping your body weight in balance is all down to ensuring that the amount of calories going in equals the amount of calories being burned through physical activity. There are other aspects to this equation, such as ensuring those calories are coming from the right foods and that those foods are nutritionally balanced and not mostly comprised of carbohydrates, saturated fats, sodium and refined sugar.

But when the fuel is of the right quality, the exercise will be more effective.

Exercise means keeping your body active enough for long enough so that its muscles use up all the energy that the body has consumed through its diet each day. You can do that by working all day at a manual job that forces you to work hard, such as certain areas of the building trade, gardening or farming, lifting and stacking or anything that makes you feel at the end of the working day that you have worked pretty hard.

However, if your job entails remaining fairly motionless all day, such as a desk or driving job, then you will need to spend some time in the evenings (or early mornings before going to work) getting some exercise in. You can try running, swimming, or even going for long, brisk walks with your dog if you have one. Really anything that gets you out of the house, into the fresh air and being active for a prolonged period of time will be beneficial to you.

The end result of following these easy weight loss tips, should be that you feel good every day, you feel that you have plenty of energy and zest without feeling tired and that your weight and body shape is where you want it to be. If you can achieve that and maintain it in the long term, then you will naturally enjoy better health than you would have done had you not taken those steps to improve it.

New health and fitness qualification to improve wellbeing of young people

Centres around the UK have been approved to deliver a new ground-breaking qualification aiming to improve the wellbeing of young people and those around them.

The Award in Lifestyle Management will encourage students to lead a healthy lifestyle, both on an emotional and physical level, and will inform them on key issues and subjects, including: nutrition; physical fitness; effects of smoking, alcohol abuse and drug misuse; and sexual health. It will also provide them with strategies to deal with problems they might face such as stress, peer pressure and bullying.

The new qualification, endorsed by the British Heart Foundation, has been created by Central YMCA Qualifications (CYQ), the UK’s leading health and fitness awarding body. Its timely launch comes as reports show that teenagers in the UK are among the unhealthiest and least fit in Western Europe. Some 18 schools, colleges and training centres have this autumn begun delivering the qualification to students between the ages of 14 and 16-years old.

Rosi Prescott, Central YMCA’s Chief Executive, said:  “This qualification really gets to the heart of the nation’s concern about young people, addressing worrying health trends among this group, such as the dramatic increase in adolescent obesity, high incidence of alcohol and drug abuse, the continued high rate of teenage pregnancy and STIs, and unsatisfactory levels of physical activity. “There is no better place to tackle these concerns than at school, with teenagers making lifelong choices which could make the difference between a full and healthy lifestyle or a lifetime of potential health and debility issues.” 

 The qualification has been designed to help young people understand what it means to be ‘healthy’ and ‘fit’ and how to make changes to improve their own health and wellbeing, as well as encouraging them to impact positively upon the behaviour of their friends, family and community. The Award, which is established on the National Qualifications Framework, is equivalent to the level of a GCSE. 

The introduction of the new qualification comes as latest figures from the Department of Health show the number of obese 11-15-year-olds has quadrupled since the 1970s, with approximately a quarter of this age group classified as obese and more than a third as obese or overweight.

Further reports show that young people today are suffering more long-term illnesses than ever before, that teenage pregnancy and abortion rates in the UK continue to be the highest in Europe, and that the incidences of binge drinking, bullying and violent behaviour among this age group are on the increase. Ms Prescott continued: “We believe that understanding health issues, what is ‘good health’, and the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, are as important as the ‘three R’s’ - reading, writing and arithmetic – and so it should be a subject that all young people learn about at school.The launch of this qualification is a step towards this.

“The Award goes much further than educating young people about health issues. Significantly, it is designed to help students have the confidence and skills to make their own lifestyle choices, to understand what they will gain from leading a more balanced lifestyle, and to inspire others to lead a healthier and more active lifestyle.”

Nicki Cooper, Head of Education at the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said: “The BHF knows how crucial it is to get young people interested in their heart health, which is why we’ve worked tirelessly over recent years to do just that with national campaigns, such as Food4Thought, aimed at school children.

“This new qualification will build on this work and give students a goal to aim for, as well as hopefully helping them to encourage healthier lifestyles among their friends and families.”

CYQ was the first awarding body in the UK to specialise on the provision of nationally and internationally recognised exercise, health and fitness qualifications. It is an operation of Central YMCA, the UK’s leading activity for health charity.

10 Tips for a Healthy Lifestyle

 

Sometimes it can feel as though eating a healthy diet, getting enough exercise and finding the time to find yourself is impossible. But learning to live a healthier lifestyle is easy when you change one small thing at a time.

1. Let it beet
It sounds bizarre, but beetroot could be a secret weapon against high blood pressure. The condition is a major cause of heart disease and stroke, but many people aren't aware they have it as it has no symptoms. Now, researchers from Barts and the London School of Medicine say drinking 500ml of beetroot juice could dramatically reduce blood pressure after just one hour. So drink up the pink stuff.


2. Think outside the box
Us lazy Brits will spend 17 years of our lives on the sofa, with seven years of that devoted to watching TV. Next time you hear yourself say, "I haven't got time to go to the gym" or you opt for ready meals because you're too busy to cook fresh food, think about switching off the box and doing something healthy instead.


3. don't take the biscuit
It may be a good idea to steer clear of the biscuit tin before you go shopping. A team from the University of Singapore recently discovered that the smell of chocolate chip cookies could make women splurge on unnecessary clothes when they hit the shops. The smell activates the part of your brain that wants instant gratification, although that's no excuse for maxing out your credit cards.


4 . Embracing good health
Giving your partner a hug doesn't just warm the heart, it can protect it too. A study by the University of North Carolina in 2005 found that hugging your other half for 20 seconds could lower blood pressure and reduce levels of the stress hormone cortisol. High levels of cortisol have been linked to heart disease and other conditions such as diabetes.


5. Pouring salt on the wound
We eat around 9.5g of salt a day, but the Government wants us to cut this to no more than 6g, as high levels of salt can push up your blood pressure, raising your risk of cardiovascular conditions. Many food labels only list salt as sodium however, but you can do a simple sum to work out their real salt content; just multiply by 2.5. So 0.8g of sodium becomes 2g of salt.


6. Sunny side up
Get outside in the sunshine for a natural boost. The sun's rays on the skin help your body produce vitamin D, which has been shown to fight heart disease, depression, osteoporosis and even some types of cancer. There's not a lot of sun around at this time of year, so make the most of it when it does appear!


7. One is the magic number
One of the largest studies into diet and cancer – the Europe-wide EPIC study – found that eating just one extra portion of fruit and vegetables a day could cut your risk of dying early from any cause by 20 per cent.


8. Holding back the years
Add 14 years to your life by following four very easy principles; don't smoke, take regular exercise, drink sensibly and eat five portions of fruit and veg a day. These simple steps can have a huge impact on your life expectancy, say scientists from Cambridge University. If you only manage one thing, give up smoking as the study found this had the biggest impact on your health.


9. A step in the right direction
Previously, experts thought taking 10,000 steps a day was enough to control your weight, but a world-wide study has just established that women up to the age of 40 and men up to 50 need 12,000 steps a day to help shift that middle jiggle. Invest in a pedometer to make sure you're hitting your target.


10. Laughter is the best medicine
Become a glass-half-full person! Studies have found that those with a positive attitude suffer less from conditions such as heart disease. Find something to laugh at every day to give your feel-good hormones a boost.

According to research seen by Marketing Week, growth in the meat-free and free-from food categories can be accelerated by increasing their appeal among mainstream consumers.

       

A growing number of consumers are turning to meat-free food and other products that have certain allergens, such as gluten or lactose, removed from their ingredients.
Although only 6% of the UK’s population consider themselves vegetarian and only 1-2% are estimated to have food allergies, the meat-free and free-from food market is expected to grow 44% to around £1.25bn by 2016, according to exclusive research obtained by Marketing Week.
This growth is being driven by an increased openness to both meat-free and free-from products by people who eat all types of food, not just vegetarians or consumers with food allergies, the study by Mintel reveals. More than half of consumers (55%) say they sometimes choose meat-free foods for variety, and 51% make a meal from them because they look appealing.

Linda McCartney:

Although one in five consumers say they would like to cut back on meat, only 4% are restricting their meat intake because of environmental concerns, whereas 25% are doing so for health reasons and 26% because of financial constraints.
Mintel’s head of UK food, drink and food service research Kiti Soininen says: “The level of openness people have for meat-free food is quite surprising. Half of adults are saying ‘As long as it looks good, it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t have meat in it’.”
Echoing this change in consumer perception is that the free-from and meat-free market has grown 28% since 2006 and was worth £868m at the end of 2011.

According to Soininen, this growth has been partly driven by food price inflation, but a number of new product launches have managed to offset some of the problems that tighter consumer budgets have inflicted on the category. Meat-free foods alone are estimated to be worth £565m, and returned to growth this year, up 4% on 2010.
Soininen says: “There is some underlying growth for meat-free. Brand activity has played quite a considerable role in keeping that up, for example the Innocent Veg Pot and Easy Bean [microwaveable meals] and similar own-label products, which have in part boosted the visibility and sales of those meat-free products.”

Product development in the free-from category has helped it grow, as has better integration of these products into the mainstream supermarket aisle, says Soininen.
Own-label has the largest market share of both meat-free (58%) and free-from (46%) foods. Soininen says: “The scale of own-label is largely about distribution. It’s also about the fact that they’ve got more of a cross-category position.
“For example, Tesco has a presence across dairy-free, gluten-free and meat-free and so that gives it a strong position. And Tesco’s price positioning also helps.”
According to Soininen, own-label has such a high market share because vegetable-based products (such as vegetarian lasagne) are included in the figures and this is a place where own-labels fare well. However, if the results just included meat substitutes, rather than vegetable-based products, then Quorn would have a much higher market share, she explains.

In the meat-free category, Quorn has the second largest share (22%), while Cauldron and Linda McCartney are two other high-profile brands. Both Quorn and Cauldron were sold by Premier Foods in January 2011 to Exponent Private Equity, which has invested more in marketing, focusing on “weight management” and positioning Quorn as a lower-fat option, rather than as a solely vegetarian brand.
Soininen says: “Premier Foods accounted for more than 90% of the ad spend in meat-free foods in the last five years, which gives you some idea of just how much the visibility of the advertising for the meat-free market as a whole depends on that one operator.”
Linda McCartney was one of the few brands that reported a growth in sales in 2010, which was in part due to a major integrated media campaign that invited customers to submit their own recipes. The winning dish - a mushroom and ale pie - was then released as part of the new range.

Like Quorn, Alpro soya milk has attracted new consumers by marketing itself as a product that contributes to a healthy lifestyle rather than as part of a restrictive diet. The entrance of well-known bread brand Warburtons into the gluten-free space - the first mainstream bakery to enter the sector - has also increased the visibility of free-from foods in supermarkets, explains Soininen.
Getting away from being seen as foods specially produced for particular diets has been a strategy employed for the last few years. In 2010, high protein was the most popular product claim, with 47 new products asserting this in their marketing and packaging.
This year, ethical values or environmentally-friendly packaging have been key claims, with 42 new products stating green credentials, compared with 32 in 2009 and 2010.
But the market still has some way to go. Nearly half (47%) of consumers say they are put off by meat substitutes because they are artificial and 40% think pre-packaged vegetarian or meat-free foods are bland or boring.

Soininen suggests that brands need to promote their products as exciting vegetable-based alternatives rather than emphasise the absence of meat. She says: “Looking at cuisines that are authentically meat-free might be an area to be developed. Innocent Veg Pots, for example, are based on a dish idea that you could make without using meat.”

The report identifies four target groups, based on their attitudes towards meat-free foods. ‘Meat-free Enthusiasts’, who make up 37% of the population, are motivated by the wellbeing of themselves and their families and can be targeted by stressing the health aspects of meat-free produce.

The ‘Open to Persuasion’ group (23%) occasionally eats meat-free food but is generally unimpressed by what’s on offer and needs to be won round by new recipes and exciting products.
The ‘Disinterested’ category (17%) enjoys meat, but doesn’t necessarily have a negative perception of meat-free products. Mintel believes that this group might change its attitude towards health over time and so a similar approach to the Meat-free Enthusiasts might resonate over time.
And people who are ‘Turned off by Tofu’ (23%) find meat-free foods largely unappealing. Mintel predicts that sampling campaigns would encourage this group, which includes enthusiastic meat eaters, to give free-from foods another chance.

But making products more mainstream risks alienating their core consumers. More than a third (35%) of people who have a household member following a restricted diet trust specialist brands more than either supermarket own-labels or large mainstream brands.
Soininen says: “Whether or not it is wise to appeal to more consumer segments very much depends on the brand. You have to be worth the price premium you charge - and you must be careful not to lose your specialist credentials if you go mainstream.”

But it is not just people with specialist dietary requirements or those on healthy eating drives that eat free-from foods. Their family members are often influenced by their dietary restrictions and choices.
More than two in five adults live in households in which at least one person avoids certain foods and around one in six with at least one person who avoids certain foods out of choice. A third of consumers (33%) in households with a special dietary requirement or choice feel that the eating habits of their family members affect their own - but the recession has had an effect on the purchase power of this latter group, the report shows.

Soininen says: “One in three people that have someone with special dietary needs in their household say they have cut back since the recession. It is easy to cut down on Quorn, for example, because you can replace it with vegetables. You could argue the same thing about gluten-free biscuits, they are not ‘necessary’.
“Some people have bought into these markets because they’re not exactly allergic to milk or they’re not exactly vegetarian but they feel good about not eating meat. For those people it’s very easy to cut back but for those that are lactose-intolerant, they will still buy soya milk because it’s part of their core diet.”
She concludes: “The meat-free and free-from food market has far from reached its full potential. Although price, perceptions of taste and the absence of recognisable brands are still holding it back, these are not insurmountable issues.”

UK´s TEENAGERS AND DIET

       Teenagers' diets should sustain growth and promote good health. During this time, a number of physiological changes occur that affect nutritional needs, including rapid growth and considerable gains in bone and muscle (especially in boys). This is also a time when teenagers begin to develop real independence from their parents, including making decisions about the food they eat.

        Teenagers often choose food in response to peer pressure or as an act of defiance against parents. It's not all bad news, as there are many opportunities to encourage healthy dietary habits in teenagers, particularly when relating good food choices to sporting or physical prowess. Ensure there are plenty of healthy options available at home for healthy meals and snacks.

Nutrition

         The National Diet and Nutrition Survey of Young People Aged 4-18 Years provides detailed information on the nutritional intake and physical activity levels of young people in the UK.

        The findings reveal average consumption of saturated fat, sugar and salt is too high, while that of starchy carbohydrates and fibre is low. During the seven-day recording period, more than half the young people surveyed hadn't eaten any citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables (such as cabbage or broccoli), eggs or raw tomatoes. The survey also showed that one in ten teenagers have very low intakes of vitamin A, magnesium, zinc and potassium. Intake of iron and calcium was also below ideal levels among many of the teenagers. Meanwhile the rising levels of obesity suggest many young people are eating too many calories.

Iron Deficiency

         Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the UK. In the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, up to 13 per cent of teenage boys and 27 per cent of girls were found to have low iron stores. Rapid growth, coupled with a fast lifestyle and poor dietary choices, can result in iron-deficiency anaemia. Teenage girls need to take particular care because their iron stores are depleted each month following menstruation.

         The main dietary source of iron is red meat, but there are lots of non-meat sources, too, including fortified breakfast cereals, dried fruit, bread and green leafy vegetables. The body doesn't absorb iron quite as easily from non-meat sources, but you can enhance absorption by combining them with a food rich in vitamin C (found in citrus fruits, blackcurrants and green leafy vegetables). In contrast, tannins found in tea reduce the absorption of iron, so it's better to have a glass of orange juice with your breakfast cereal than a cup of tea.

Calcium Deficiency

          The survey also highlighted that 25 per cent of teens had a calcium intake below the recommended level, which has serious implications for their future bone health.

          Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become brittle and break very easily. Bones continue to grow and strengthen until the age of 30, and the teenage years are very important to this development. Vitamin D, calcium and phosphorous are vital for this process, with calcium requirements for the teenage years ranging from 800mg to 1,000mg per day.

           Calcium-rich foods should be consumed every day. The richest source of calcium in most people's diet is milk and dairy products. Encourage your teenager to eat three portions of dairy food each day – for example, a glass of milk, a 150g pot of yoghurt and a small matchbox-sized piece of cheese. If your teenager doesn’t eat dairy products, try fortified soya milk. Dairy foods are often avoided by teenage girls because of concerns about fat content. Low-fat dairy foods are equally rich in calcium, so providing these versions to aid consumption can be helpful.

Foods to Choose

           Adolescence is a time of rapid growth, and the primary dietary need is for energy - often reflected in a voracious appetite. Ideally, foods in the diet should be rich in energy and nutrients. Providing calories in the form of sugary or fatty snacks can mean nutrient intake is compromised, so teenagers should be encouraged to choose a variety of foods from the other basic food groups:

• Plenty of starchy carbohydrates - bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, chapattis, couscous and potatoes
• Plenty of fruit and vegetables - at least five portions every day
• Two to three portions of dairy products, such as milk, yoghurt, fromage frais and pasteurised cheeses
• Two servings of protein, such as meat, fish, eggs, beans and pulses
• Not too many fatty foods
• Limit sugar-rich food and drinks

Other important dietary habits to follow during adolescence include:

• Drink six to eight glasses of fluid a day.
• Eat regular meals, including breakfast, as it can provide essential nutrients and improve concentration in the mornings. Choose a fortified breakfast cereal with semi-skimmed milk and a glass of fruit juice.
• Take regular exercise, which is important for overall fitness and cardiovascular health, as well as bone development.

Slimming

           Many studies have reported that teenagers, especially girls, are dissatisfied with their weight, and have low self-esteem and a distorted view of their body image. The most popular methods of losing weight are skipping meals, avoiding red meat, snacks and sugary foods, and even fasting, but these aren't always healthy options. This is a crucial age when a nutritious diet is important - and the so-called growth spurt increases the demands for these nutrients.

           If teenagers want to slim, ensure that it's appropriate - are they really overweight or just dissatisfied with their natural body shape? If they do diet, help them to do so sensibly. Strict or faddy diets tend to be low in essential nutrients and frequent unsuccessful dieting can lower self-esteem even further. Sensible eating and regular exercise are the key to slimming success. Cut down on sugary and fatty foods to reduce excess calories while maintaining nutrients.

           The teenage years are a time when eating disorders can develop. If you think your teenager may have one, speak to your doctor or practice nurse, or get in touch with the Eating Disorders Association for confidential information and advice.

Vegetarianism

          Being a teenage vegetarian needn't be a problem, providing the diet is well balanced and provides suitable alternatives to meat, such as pulses and soya products like tofu. Meat provides protein, iron, essential B vitamins and zinc - all necessary for the growing teenager. Alternative sources include:

• Iron - fortified breakfast cereals, breads, dried fruits, beans, peas and lentils. Try to have two portions of iron-rich foods every day. To help with absorption, eat them with foods rich in vitamin C (for example, oranges, fruit juice, tomatoes and vegetables).
• B vitamins - if you're still consuming dairy products daily then intakes of these vitamins shouldn't be a problem. For vegans, vitamin B12 can be found in some yeast extracts, soya milks, breakfast cereals and TVP (texturised vegetable protein) products.
• Zinc - can be found in wholemeal breads, cereals, beans and pulses.

Acne

         Contrary to popular belief, there's little scientific evidence that acne is caused or exacerbated by fatty and sugary foods. Hormonal factors are the most likely cause.

Key Points

• Eat regular meals from the main food groups, and minimise intake of high-fat and sugar-rich foods
• Pay particular attention to getting enough iron and calcium in the diet, and eat lean red meat or non-meat iron sources and dairy products every day
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Be physically active

Watch your Kids While Watching TV

Television becomes one of the most important devices which takes place in almost houses. It can unite all members of the family as well as separate them. However, is it important to know what your kids are watching? The answer is, of course, absolutely "Yes" and that should be done by all parents. Television can expose things you have tried to protect the children from, especially violence, pornography, consumerism and so on.
Recently, a study demonstrated that spending too much time on watching TV during the day or at bedtime often cause bed-time disruption, stress, and short sleep duration.
Another research found that there is a significant relationship between the amount of time spent for watching television during adolescence and early adulthood, and the possibility of being aggressive.
Meanwhile, many studies have identified a relationship between kids who watch TV a lot and being inactive and overweight.
Considering some facts mentioning above, protect your children with the following tips:
•    Limit television viewing to one-two hours each day
•    Do not allow your children to have a TV set in their own bedrooms
•    Review the rating of TV shows which your children watch
•    Watch television with your children and discuss what is happening in the show.
Thesis: The writer's thought is presented as thesis which is proven with several arguments. In the first paragraph, the writer points his thought about the importance of accompanying children while they are watching TV show. It is important to protect the children from the bad influences of TV show.

Arguments: The next paragraphs show the writer arguments in supporting his thesis. It is supported by various researches that there are a great relationship between watching TV and the watcher's personality. One study describes that much time in watching TV can cause bed-time disruption. The others show the possibility of becoming an aggressive character because of watching television too much.

Recommendation: After stating the thesis and proving with various arguments, the text is completed with the writer's recommendation on how the parents should protect the children from the bed effect of watching TV.
Basically, both hortatory and analytical exposition have the similar position. Both take place as argumentative essays. Both show how important idea of the writer to be known. However the last paragraph of the essay usually make the difference from hortatory and analytical exposition. If it is a hortatory text, it will be ended with a strong recommendation while for analytical exposition, it will be closed with restatement of the writer's first paragraph.