EE
Why Teen-Age Girls
Don't Eat Properly
A medical authority says they'd
rather starve than be "fat";
what's worse, their parents don't
know how to set them right
by W. W. BAUER, M.D. Director of Health Education, American Medical Association
She lived next door to us. Her name was Anne.
As a child she was robust and chubby, and had
lovely golden curls. Ia her adolescence, though, she
was unattractively thin. One day I asked: "Anne,
what did you have for breakfast this morning?"
"I didn't have any breakfast."
"Well, then," I asked, "what did you have for
breakfast yesterday morning?"
"I didn't have any breakfast yesterday either."
"Okay," I insisted, "and when did you have
breakfast?"
"I can't remember."
"Well, what did you have for lunch at school?"
"I took a tuna-fish sandwich and an orange, and
I bought a bottle of milk at school."
I was just about to say that that wasn't a bad
lunch, when she added, "I ate half the sandwich
and drank some of the milk."
"What about the orange?" I demanded.
"Oh," she answered, "that's in my locker at
school."
Since I am a hard man to discourage, I pursued
the subject of her evening meal.
"We-ell," she said, "I didn't like what we had
for supper, so I made an excuse about doing some
homework, and I I guess I didn't eat very much
of anything." .
This last remark will not surprise parents or nu
trition experts. They know that most adolescent
girls do not eat enough, or choose their foods wisely
enough, to assure good nutrition. Growing boys,
who are always hungry, do much better, perhaps
because they will eat anything that won't bite them.
Why should young girls develop unsatisfactory
food habits?
The main reason is that young girls would rather
starve than get "fat"! Slenderness, often to the point
of emaciation, is a must with them. It is no use tell
ing them that they are healthier and better look
ing at normal weight. Fashion, custom, and above
all, the approval of their own age group are more
important than any health considerations. Who
wants to be a "square" with her own set?
Another reason why the teen-age girl does not
eat properly is that the adult approach to
the problem is wrong. "Eat carrots because they
are good for you," says mother ad nauseam. Or
worse, "How many times do I have to tell you
eat those carrots." If there is any mule in the child's
disposition, this approach is sure to bring it into
action.
Too much bullying at the table creates unneces
sary rebellion toward food. We talk too much about
rigid dietary "musts" and not enough about how
good-to-eat a sensible diet can be. We are too nega
tive, especially in relation to sweets and soft drinks,
which young people take to like ducks to water. It's
no use to tell any young person not to have sweets
and soft drinks. Fruits, vegetables, whole-grain
cereals, vitamins, and minerals just don't have the
appeal of a cheeseburger or a thick malted milk.
And what's wrong with popcorn, peanuts, hot dogs,
and ice cream?
The fact is, all these foods are good and useful
in their places. The problem is to have them used
by youngsters in proper relationship to other foods.
But this balance can be achieved only by parents
who understand psychology as well as nutrition.
My judgment, based on long and sympathetic
contact with young people, is that the right ap
proach is to let them have the facts, then work out
their own conclusions. For example, they should
be given six basic tips in good nutrition:
Eat a good breakfast; you need morning energy
for good work.
There are many varieties of food, so choose the
kind you like among fruits, vegetables, meats, fish,
eggs, and other important foods.
Go easy on sweets; no need to cut them out, but
don't substitute them for more essential foods.
Take enough time to enjoy your meals.
Put worries and problems aside while you eat;
keep mealtimes happy.
Learn to like as many varieties of food as pos
sible to make sensible eating fun.
But don't din your ideas about diet into their
ears. If we give young people a scientific basis for
good dietary practice, they'll pick them up them
selves without nagging.
After all, young people are eager to look well.
They want to be liked and to be popular. Who
doesn't? Help them learn that good health, includ
ing good nutrition, is ah aid toward this goal, and
they will act like anybody else at any age.
It all adds up to simple but often-overlooked
principles. You have to like people; you have to
have confidence in people; you have to respect the
personality of the individual if you expect to help
and to influence his conduct, even for his own good.
Substitute "youth" in the above sentence for
"people," and I believe you have the answer, not
only to the question as to why adolescent girls don't
eat more sensibly, but to many other questions
about the younger generation.
MSU1
lm iimr' i)rfWiiiitoAb&;i
COVER:
Today's striking cover photo by Ozzie
Sweet captures a familiar ritual of the yule
tide season the tree being taken to the
church. Somehow, the simple scene makes
one feel that faith can restore toell-being,
even in a world so filled with unrest.
WflDklv December 13, 1959
LEONARD $. DAVIDOW Pmident and Publieher
WAITER C. DREYFUS Vice President
PATRICK E. O'ROURKE Advertieing Director
Stnd all advertising communications lo
family Weekly, 153 N. Michigan At., Chicago 1, III.
Addrtts all communications about editorial features to
Family Weekly, 60 E. 56th St., N.w York 22, N. Y.
Board of Fditors I ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-Chief
BEN KARTMAN Erecutivt Editor
ROBERT FITZGIBBON Managing Editor
MARGARET BEll Feature Editor
RALPH J. FINCH, I. Art Director
MEIANIE DE PROFT Food Editor
Bob Driscoll, Irma Heldman, John Hochmann, Jerry Klein.
Harold London, Jock Ryan; Poor Oppenheimer, Hollywood.
1959, FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE. INC., 153 N. Michigan Ave-., Chicago 1, III. All rights reserved.