I Just Switched to Intuitive Eating--How Many Calories Should A Teenage Girl Eat?
Posted by Evelyn Tribole MS RD at 7/5/2009 1:19 PM 
Categories: Teens, Intuitive Eating, Nutrition Headline News, Eating Disorders, Weight and Dieting, Free Full Text Study
Tags: intuitive eating teenager calories
Categories: Teens, Intuitive Eating, Nutrition Headline News, Eating Disorders, Weight and Dieting, Free Full Text Study
Tags: intuitive eating teenager calories
Q. I am 16 years old and trying to follow your Intuitive Eating principles. (I've been a big time calorie-counter.) While I am able to eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full—I'm eating more calories now and I'm worried that I'm doing something wrong. Actually, I'm scared that I might gain weight (I was eating 1500 calories/day). I also run on the girls cross-country team.
A. While you didn't say that you were dieting, limiting your food to 1500 calories/day is a form of dieting, especially for your activity level. Restricting your eating/dieting can lead to bigger problems, especially for teenagers. Studies show that teenagers who diet are more likely to gain weight (yes, gain) and have an increased risk for binge eating and developing an eating disorder [1, 2].
To give you some perspective, the typical 16 year-old-teenage girl, who is moderately active, needs nearly 2400 calories/per day, according to the Institute of Medicine's 2005 report, which is below [3]. Generally, when your body is not getting adequate calories on a regular basis, your metabolism slows down to compensate. That's why it is possible to eat more food and not gain weight—because your metabolism starts to normalize to its higher level.
1.Field AE, et al.
Relation Between Dieting and Weight Change Among Preadolescents and Adolescents
Pediatrics 2003 112: 900-906. (Free Full Text)
2. Neumark-Sztainer D. et al.
Why Does Dieting Predict Weight Gain in Adolescents? Findings from Project EAT-II: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study Journal of the American Dietetic Association March 2007. 1073):448-455.
3.
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A. While you didn't say that you were dieting, limiting your food to 1500 calories/day is a form of dieting, especially for your activity level. Restricting your eating/dieting can lead to bigger problems, especially for teenagers. Studies show that teenagers who diet are more likely to gain weight (yes, gain) and have an increased risk for binge eating and developing an eating disorder [1, 2].
To give you some perspective, the typical 16 year-old-teenage girl, who is moderately active, needs nearly 2400 calories/per day, according to the Institute of Medicine's 2005 report, which is below [3]. Generally, when your body is not getting adequate calories on a regular basis, your metabolism slows down to compensate. That's why it is possible to eat more food and not gain weight—because your metabolism starts to normalize to its higher level.
1.Field AE, et al.
Relation Between Dieting and Weight Change Among Preadolescents and Adolescents
Pediatrics 2003 112: 900-906. (Free Full Text)
2. Neumark-Sztainer D. et al.
Why Does Dieting Predict Weight Gain in Adolescents? Findings from Project EAT-II: A 5-Year Longitudinal Study Journal of the American Dietetic Association March 2007. 1073):448-455.
3.
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