Puberty is a time of entering adulthood and the time for embarkment of this phase can vary among individuals. Puberty usually occurs in 🚺girls between the ages of 9 and 14, while in 🚹boys it generally occurs later, between the ages of 1 2 and 16.
Besides other bodily changes which the child goes through, this is a time for growth spurt. Children, especially girls ⏫⏫increase in weight and height.
The girls store more fat in the their body, and the limbs i.e legs and arms💪 increase in length more then the increase in the trunk size.
This phase of maturation may bring along some unwanted things with it too, like 😡mood swings, body cramps,😪 fatigue, and increased appetite.
So, if you are mom of a young adult💅 female, firstly arm yourself with some knowledge about these changes and body needs. Be ready, to be the 📕guidebook for your child.
If we talk about increased appetite🎆🎇, then first idea is to utilize this in the benefit of the growing body.
💐Provide healthier food options instead of the junk foods 🍔and fizzy drinks🍹.
💐Keep an eye 👀on the weight is to height ratio. Consult a health care professional to set the boundaries for safe levels of weight increase.
💐The body needs more proteins, iron, calcium, zinc and folate in this growth phase. So include foods which are rich in these nutrients. Meat, fish, 🐟 poultry, eggs, milk 🍶and it’s products , lentils n beans, and whole grain products 🍪are your target foods.
💐Try making fruits 🍌🍎and vegetables🌽🌶️ more attractive as they carry good amount of fiber, which will be filling for the hungry tummy of your princess.
💐Reduce the amount of ready to eat foods, bakery items🎂, more sugary🍫 foods, and fried foods🍟. These will increase the weight in a split second, and then she will end up looking for “weight loss plans”, which are not healthy at all if found just lying around on the Internet💻.
💐Include an exercise plan 🏋️or a good outdoor sport like swimming🏊, tennis🎾, basketball🏀 or any other🏇 in her daily life. It will help her have more muscle mass than fat layers in this growth spurt.
💐Some girls may also become overly obsessed with body figure, and may end up in diseases like 🚨bulimia and 🚨anorexia. So, keep in check the food intake, it’s dangerous to tilt on both sides of the balance⚖️.
Teach her to
💖own her body,
💖take care of her body,
💖make healthy lifestyle choices,
💖be more active.
Mariam Khan, RDN
