10 best healthy snacks for overweight teens

Alternative to fatty snacks: Pita chips, veggies and low-fat hummus (Dumin/Creative Commons)

While obesity rates are climbing for every demographic, the rise of teenage obesity may be the most heartbreaking. During adolescence, self-esteem is a struggle for everyone, but even more so for the 9 million young teens in the United States who are overweight.

Studies show that around 80% of adolescents who are overweight will become obese adults, carrying their eating and exercise habits on into their later life, and putting them at risk for heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and cancer.

While the solution is complex and involves physical and psychological factors as well as dietary ones, studies show that a well-balanced diet is one of the crucial factors in reducing teenage obesity.

Helping a teenager maintain healthy eating habits can be a chore. Snack foods can play a large role in an adolescent's life, both socially and culturally. It may be easier to teach them to replace their high-calorie snacks with more sensible choices than to cut them out snacks completely.

Make sure that you have plenty of these foods around, so that when a hungry teen needs something to grab and go on the run, they have many easy options. If the junk food isn't there to eat, most teens will gravitate toward the healthy snacks that are there.

These 10 choices are selected to be appealing and teen-friendly. Try stocking them at home to make your environment a safer and healthier one that will gently encourage your overweight teen to make healthier snacking choices he or she can carry on into their healthier and happier future.

10 Healthy Teen-Friendly Snacks

1.  Popcorn. Keep single-serve bags of light microwave popcorn on hand as a replacement for fatty chips.
2.  Baked chips and pita chips. Light versions of chips are much healthier than their counterparts, but can still encourage mindless snacking. Buy lower-calorie versions in pre-portioned singles packs, or portion them yourself into plastic bags after purchase.
3.  Pre-cut vegetables. Keep ready-to-eat veggies in the refrigerator at all times so they're easy to grab. Baby carrots are already prepped, so buy them in large quantities.
4. Hummus and other healthy dips. Teens are more likely to eat vegetables if they have something to dip them in. Keep low-fat ranch dressing on hand, and make up your own batches of fiber-filled low fat hummus or light cream cheese-base dips. Portion them into small containers to avoid overindulgence and to make them more portable.
5.  Yogurt. Low fat yogurt now comes in so many flavors, you're sure to find at least a few that suit your teen's tastes, from chocolate cream pie to kiwi strawberry.
6.  Frozen fruit bars. A healthy alternative to fat-filled ice cream, frozen fruit bars are made from real fruit juice. Look for varieties in the lower-calorie range (100 or les
7. Fruit. Sometimes it can be hard to get an adolescent to choose fruit as a snack, but if you keep it in sight, pre-washed and ready, it increases the chances of a quick grab. Choose fruits that can be eaten with no peeling or prep: apples, pears, bananas. Keep other fruits, like pineapple, ready-cut and in the fridge.
8. Laughing Cow Cheese. These creamy cheese wedges are a brand worth splurging on. Though low in calories and fat, they have a a creamy texture and can be eaten alone or spread on vegetables or whole wheat crackers.
9. Mini whole wheat pitas. The small size makes them perfect for a quick sandwich of snack-sized proportions, or you can use them to quick-zap a healthy version of a mini pizza in the microwave with some tomato sauce and reduced-fat cheese.
10. Cereal single packs. Many teens like to eat cereal straight out of the box, and single packs are sanely-portioned as well as backpack-friendly. Look for varieties that are low in sugar and high in fiber.

Moms and Dads: there's no reason you can't snack this way too, and studies show that kids are more likely to have healthy eating habits if their parents do too.

 Obesity statistics from the Center for Disease Control

 Weight loss can be a struggle for the whole family, but the Nashville Healthy Food Examiner has tons of tips to keep you on track. Learn how to choose the most filling foods, how to have chocolate when you're on a diet , and what staples to keep on hand .

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