Healthy Eating Teens and Peer PressureIt is difficult to discuss the subject of teens without discussing peer pressure. Peer pressure is when children are pressured or persuaded into doing the things that the people they spend time with are doing. These people are your teen's friends. Peer pressure really begins before the teen years. Young school children and children in middle school also want to fit in with their friends and may do things they normally wouldn't do as a result of this pressure. One of the reasons why establishing good lines of communication with your children is important is to help fight this pressure. Children who are confident and strong willed seldom give in to peer pressure. While they are young, encourage your children to always stick to what they believe in, and to set their own example for other kids to follow. This will help them resist peer pressure in their teen years. Now here's an example of peer pressure: If your child's group of friends are all into drinking soda with lunch, your teen is likely to feel like everyone around them is drinking soda with lunch. Your teen feels the pressure to fit in. During adolescence when the fear of rejection is very real for children, many of them are willing to do anything to fit in. They don't want to be the only one drinking milk while everyone else have sodas in their hands, so they drink soda. While unhealthy eating is a pretty mild thing to be pressured into, it is important for parents to notice how easily their children give in, and if their children will want to change the home's entire menu just to feel like they fit in with their friends. If your teen caves in to their friends too quickly, this could be a sign that they will end up being pressured into worse things than unhealthy eating. Make your child understand that not everyone drinks soda with lunch, and that it's okay to drink milk. If they really feel badly about it, suggest coming up with a healthy compromise, and let them make the decision for that compromise. During their teen years, children should be allowed to make their own decisions that parents respect. While there are extents to what decisions they can make, a good amount of respect for your teen becoming older and wiser will help them reciprocate respect towards you and the rules you have in your home, rules like that of eating healthy. Next Article: Re-Shaping Your Teens' Ideas Towards Healthy Eating |
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How To Get Your Kids To Eat Healthy Food - Without A Fight!
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