How to keep your teenager healthy

3 mins to read

Help your teenager stay happy and healthy with our go-to guide that tackles a handful of key health and wellbeing areas that are vital at this age and life stage.

Everyday healthKidsWellbeing news

Teenagers and sleep

The facts: Teenagers need up to 10 hours sleep each night, but few are getting it.

“Most adolescents don’t obtain sleep in the recommended range of eight to 10 hours per night,” says Flinders University sleep researcher Dr Michelle Short, who conducted a sleep study on teenagers in 2018 at the university’s Child and Adolescent Sleep Clinic.

In fact, most teenagers only get between six-and-a-half and seven-and-a-half hours of sleep a night.

“Our study of sleep deprivation in controlled conditions shows that this clearly affects the ability to function well, as well as their mental health and sense of wellbeing,” says Dr Short.

In fact, a subsequent study Dr Short was involved in found that, for teenagers, too-little sleep increases the risk of mood deficits by 55 per cent, anger by 83 per cent and anxiety by 41 per cent.

Feeling sleepy during the day
Regularly needing to be woken up on school days
Falling asleep too quickly (in less than five minutes) or too slowly (in more than 30 minutes)
Finding it very difficult to wake up in the morning.

What you can do: Rather than arguing about bedtime, brainstorm ways to increase your teen’s quota of sleep, together. You might:

Encourage them to sleep in on weekends and have an early night every Sunday
Negotiate appropriate limits for screen time, bearing in mind research shows teenagers who put down their phones an hour before bed gain an extra 21 minutes sleep each night
Help your teenager to assess their weekly schedule to see if they’re over-committed and look at how they might be able to free up time for rest and sleep
Encourage them to practise meditation to help improve their sleep.

Teenagers and healthy eating

The facts: According to the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s Nutrition Across the Life Stages report, while diet quality is poor across all age groups, it’s particularly true for teenagers.

Ninety nine per cent don’t eat enough vegetables and discretionary – or ‘junk’ – food makes up more than 40 per cent of their daily energy intake.

What you can do: One of the most effective ways to ensure teens are getting all the nutrients they need is to base the meals they eat at home around the core food groups. This means including:

Plenty of different vegetables, including legumes like lentils and tinned beans
A variety of fruit
Wholegrain breads, cereals, rice, pasta and noodles, as well as things like oats, quinoa and couscous
Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and tofu
Reduced-fat milk, yoghurt and cheese – or their dairy-free alternatives .

How do you make nutritious foods and meals the go-to option? Introducing family meals, even a few times a week, is a good place to start, as research shows they promote healthier eating patterns. You could also encourage your teens to help out in the kitchen – kids who assist with preparing meals feel more confident about the importance of making healthier food choices.

And do what you can to make it as easy as possible for your teenagers to choose healthier snack options at home. Making healthier foods both visible and accessible for them can help increase the consumption of those foods.

Teenagers and healthy weight

The facts: Approximately a quarter of Australian teenagers are overweight, which bumps up their risk of developing chronic health conditions as they grow older. They may also experience low self-esteem. Plus, about 80 per cent of teenagers who are carrying too much weight are more likely to be overweight as they become adults.

What you can do: If you’d like to help your teenager maintain a healthy weight, it’s important to approach the topic in the right way.

Weight and appearance are often emotionally charged areas for an adolescent, so you’ll need to approach the issue with a high degree of sensitivity.

Since children model their behaviour on that of the adults around them, one of the best things you can do is focus on improving your own healthy-living activities. Increase the family’s intake of vegetables, incorporate more exercise into your life, and encourage your kids to join you.

It’s always best to focus on talking about health and healthy lifestyles, rather than discussing weight loss – and to adopt those healthy lifestyle changes as a family.

Teenagers and exercise

The facts: Official guidelines recommended that teenagers should do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, but about 80 per cent of Australian teenagers aren’t hitting that target.

On the flip side, statistics show that roughly the same number of teenagers spend more than two hours a day using electronic devices for entertainment.

What you can do: As well as setting some boundaries around screen time, commit to being more active together as a family. Not only does research show that children who say their parents don’t exercise regularly have a 50 per cent greater risk of being unfit, it also shows that parents who are active alongside their children are 35 per cent more likely to report that they believe their kids do enough activity.

You can also take steps to encourage your teenagers to find an exercise they’ll love and stick with.

Teenagers and stress

The facts: Surveys show that nearly one in two Australian teenagers are concerned about their ability to cope with stress.

Common causes of stress for teenagers are school work and exams, lack of time, social relationships, family expectations for them to do well at school, and social media. Plus, teenagers’ stress levels tend to rise when they’re not getting enough sleep.

Warning signs that a teenager is experiencing stress include expressing out-of-character hostility toward family members, abandoning long-time friendships and avoiding parents more than usual, and even physical symptoms, such as stomach aches and headaches.

What you can do: A great place to start is understanding the dynamics of family stress and putting a plan in place to help manage it.

Exercise, a healthy diet and getting sufficient sleep can also help teenagers deal with stress, as can equipping them with effective coping skills.

Encourage your teen to write down the things that are causing them to feel stressed and to identify whether it’s something they can control or not. If the source of the stress is controllable, reassure them there are changes they can make and, together, devise a plan. You might also like to introduce them to mindfulness , which can be an effective technique to help lower stress levels.