Your Body

Teenage girl with wavy red hair sitting on the grass while smiling and looking up to the sky
pediatrician

Comprehensive Healthcare

At Children's Clinic, we are highly-trained providers and staff who deliver comprehensive, patient-centered, and confidence-inspiring care.

  • Exercise
  • Nutrition
  • Eating Disorders
  • Body Image
Exercise

Exercise

Young women in a yoga class

The AAP recommends that adolescents get 60 minutes of physical activity PER DAY! That may seem like a lot while you are balancing the pressures of school, home, and extra activities. However, exercise has many physical and emotional benefits, making the struggle to find time for it worth it. Besides being good for your physical health, exercise benefits your mental health and can also help you manage stress.

Water is the best way to rehydrate during and after exercise. Some people feel that an energy drink can give them an extra edge. However, they have not been shown to be of any benefit and, in fact, can actually cause serious heart issues. We recommend a healthy diet instead to optimize your athletic performance.

Here is a good link for general information about exercise, food, and fitness.

Nutrition

Nutrition

A wooden board with salmon and shrimp next to which are vegetables, almonds, and walnuts.

Good eating habits are formed early! Now that you're a teen and have more control about when and what you eat, it is important to pay attention to what and how much you're eating so that you're providing your body the right fuel to keep it healthy AND so that you're forming good eating habits that set you up for a healthy lifestyle for the rest of your life.

The keys to reaching or staying at a healthy weight are regular exercise and good eating habits. Some people think exercise and good eating require lots of effort or planning. But that's not true. In fact, the best way to work them into our lives is by making small changes that gradually become part of our routine.

To learn more about good eating habits, check out information from these trusted resources:

Eating Disorders

Eating Disorders

A smiling young woman with curly hair is at a restaurant table with a smoothie and a glass of yogurt and fruit.

It is tough not to worry about your body these days! Images of perfect male and female bodies are projected to the world through social media, advertising, and TV. It can be difficult to separate images that aren't realistic (touched up, photographed from the perfect angle, unhealthy eating) from reality.

Eating disorders are very serious and can have devastating consequences on your health. They can affect people of all genders, races, ages, and ethnic backgrounds. How eating disorders show up in women and men can be different, but they can affect both genders.

People who have a negative body image and those who diet are at risk of developing an eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or others. Eating disorders have serious health consequences and require treatment. However, recovery is likely with the help of specially trained health care providers and a supportive family.

If you or someone you know is experiencing an eating disorder, let a trusted adult or your healthcare provider know as soon as possible.

To learn more about eating disorders, check out these trusted resources:

Body Image

Body Image

Man teenager looking at his reflection in the bathroom mirror

Healthy body image can be tough. It is normal to compare yourself to others and it is easy to compare yourself to images online or on TV. Remember that the images on social media, TV, and elsewhere are often modified by technology and are not reality. They're also curated images-- pictures selected to present that person in the best possible light from the best possible angle when the person being photographed may not necessarily look that way day-to-day in real life.

If you find yourself unhappy with your body, please talk to your healthcare provider.

Here are some interesting links for you to review: