Health Tips for Teens Every Young Person Needs to Learn

For young people, wellness is about more than staying out of the doctor’s office. Your physical, mental and social well-being matter just as much. To start feeling your very best, study up on Harmony Healthcare Long Island’ fundamental health tips for teens.

Practical and Powerful Health Tips for Teens

Learning to live healthy is a smart idea at any age. However, teenagers stand to gain significant short-term benefits and develop positive habits that last a lifetime.

1) Practice Proper Nutrition

Teenagers can significantly benefit from practicing the basic principles of proper nutrition, like bringing a healthy lunch to school and avoiding soda, chips and candy. A balanced diet that includes extra nutrients encourages bone growth, supports hormonal changes and organ and tissue development.

Essential Nutrients to Include in Your Diet

• Calcium helps build strong bones and teeth. Where to find it: fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese.
• Vitamin D keeps bones healthy. Where to find it: orange juice, whole oranges, tuna and fat-free or low-fat milk.
• Potassium helps lower blood pressure. Where to find it: bananas or baked potato with the skin.
• Fiber gives you strength. Where to find it: fish, low-fat meats, berries and apples.
• Iron helps your body grow. Where to find it: spinach, beans, peas and iron-fortified cereals.

2) Exercise Regularly

If living a healthy lifestyle is one of your goals this year, regular exercise is a must. It lowers the risk of developing diseases, including obesity and diabetes.

CDC guidelines recommend that teenagers do one hour or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. To get the best results, include a mixture of aerobic, muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening exercises.

Fun Fitness Activities for Teenagers

• Jogging
• Basketball
• Bicycling
• Swimming

3) Spend Quality Time with Friends and Family

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, young people must navigate new realities, including social distancing guidelines and remote learning policies. Although challenges like these make staying connected more difficult, maintaining an active social network plays a vital role in teenagers’ mental and social wellness.

The positive effects of developing and maintaining healthy relationships with friends and family know no bounds. Simple actions like calling a friend or playing board games with your family tend to do more than just liven-up your social life. You are also likely to experience a boost to your mental and physical health.

4) Limit Your Screen Time

Today, no list of health tips for teens would be complete without mentioning the overuse of technology. Too much screen time can reduce the quality of sleep and raise the risk of developing attention problems, anxiety and depression.

To enhance health and wellness, limit screen time to less than two hours per day, not including schoolwork.

Although it may be difficult at first, limiting sedentary activities, like video games, will go a long way towards improving teenagers’ overall health.

Contact Our School-Based Health Centers to Learn More

Healthy habits aren’t always easy to stick to over time. If you have questions about our health tips for teens or other topics, consider making an appointment at one of our convenient School-Based Health Centers. Located inside Freeport High School, Roosevelt High School and Westbury High School, we provide health services to currently enrolled students.

Contact us today to learn more.