Many adolescent boys and girls in the United States are currently trying
to lose weight (36 and 44 percent, respectively). Of those, 30 percent of 2
Food Calories Fat (g) Fiber (g)
Veggie Burger 218 5 7
Hamburger 373 21 2
Homemade Bean Burrito 183 3 7
Fast-Food Chili-Cheese Burrito 363 21 2
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2010.
USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 23. Nutrient
Data Laboratory Home Page, http://www.ars.usda.gov/ba/bhnrc/ndl.
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girls and 18 percent of boys practice unhealthful or even dangerous
dieting methods.5
While dramatically restricting calories is effective at
lowering weight for the short term, calorie restriction can jeopardize
normal growth and development in children and adolescents, as other
essential nutrients from food will also be restricted. Further, excess
weight is usually symptomatic of poor dietary patterns that calorie
restriction alone will not address.