Nutrition and healthy eating are not the foremost concern for most girls. How many millions of teens eat at McDonald's every night, drink soda as their only beverage, have a sugary cereal, or just skip breakfast altogether, and usually don't have any fruits or vegetables at all? Some of the long-term effects of these poor nutrition habits are:
- greater risk for heart disease
- increased risk for certain cancers
- weakened immune system
- weight gain
- osteoporosis, the list goes on and on.
Why would anyone willingly subject themselves and their bodies to this after getting all the information? One reason is because they don't get this information. The food industry spends billions of dollars a year to get us, the consumers to buy their products. We get a lot of mixed messages. Teenage girls have to learn not to listen to advertising, but to eat foods that are good for them and that will keep them healthy.
What you eat now has a tremendous impact on your health in the years to come. This list has been compiled in the hopes that all of us will realize that and decide to do something about it.
