“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
In 2023, Texas had the 2nd highest number of teens who needed treatment for their mental health but didn’t receive it. Nearly 205,000 teens require treatment – that’s more than the population of Amarillo.
Even more concerningly, 62% of Texas high school girls reported that they were actively trying to lose weight in 2023. This same report also found that more than 30% of teen girls also engaged in unhealthy fasting, such as going without eating for more than 24 hours.
As a parent, these numbers are terrifying. Whether you’ve noticed signs of avoidant eating or you’re concerned about a sudden plunge in your daughter’s mental health, our team at Roots Renewal Ranch is here to help. Today, we’re going to look at how diet deeply impacts teen health and the role of nutrition in mental health recovery for teen girls.
Diet and Mental Health: How Nutrition Shapes Your Teen’s Well-Being
As a parent, you do your best to make sure your daughter has her needs met. When it comes to food, that means everything from cooking dinner to spending her money to go out to eat with her friends. You probably have some snacks in your cabinet that are her favorite, too.
How much time have you spent teaching your daughter about nutrition?
Our bodies are complex yet well-oiled machines. Each part works together and helps keep the entire system healthy and happy. Nutrition is a key cog in this machine, and it involves more than just making sure that she is getting enough food to eat in a day.
Not only does a growing body and mind need food to power it, but the same applies to people of all ages. Food impacts mood, motivation, energy levels, and more, and nutrition plays a large part.
What Does Good Nutrition Look Like?
Nutrition and our understanding of food have evolved a lot, even just within the past few decades. The staple food pyramid, which you likely grew up seeing, placed grains at the bottom, followed by fruits and vegetables, with protein and milk products next, topped by sweets and oils. This was posted in 1992 by the USDA and didn’t see public evolution until over a decade later.
Now, if you were to Google “food pyramid,” you’d find hundreds of different images, none of which consistently match each other. So, what exactly makes up “good nutrition?”
Your daughter’s food (and your own!) should have variety. This means not eating too much of one type of food, like constant grains or protein. Each type of food – grains, fruits, vegetables, proteins, nuts, oils, and calcium – offers its benefits. This isn’t to say these things are bad for you; in fact, our bodies thrive on the vitamins and minerals provided by these foods. The best way to get nutrition for your daughter is to ensure her food involves a wide range of food types.
Nutrition, Self-Care, and Poor Mental Health – What’s the Relation?
The cycle of poor nutrition, self-care, and mental health is an intertwined wheel that can quickly spiral out of control. You notice your daughter hasn’t showered recently, isn’t finishing her plate like usual, and suddenly, she’s holed up in her room more often.
These three components go hand-in-hand, and it can sometimes feel like a recipe for disaster. Studies show that food greatly influences mood and motivation, so if she’s not getting proper nutrition, she’s more likely to feel lethargic. This then makes her less likely to want to take care of herself or her environment, which can make her mental health dive. Her decline in mental health then makes eating and self-care that much more daunting, which compounds itself again and again.
If you notice your daughter falling into this cycle, one of the best things you can do is to simply help. You don’t need to talk to her about it if she doesn’t want to. While she’s at school one day, freshen up her bedsheets for her, maybe do some of the chores she normally does. Make her favorite food that night or pre-pack some lunches so she has fewer steps between her and a good meal. When tasks and steps pile up during an already bad mental health period, helping her mark a few things off her list can bring up her motivation and mood greatly.
What External Factors Might Impact Your Daughter’s Eating Habits
One of the largest external factors that influence your daughter’s thoughts on food is diet culture. It’s in social media, movies, music, and her friend groups. It stems from a fear of being “unattractive” in combination with fatphobia. Unrealistic body goals set by Photoshop and rampant advertising of unrealistic body standards don’t help, either.
When she opens her Instagram or TikTok and sees one of her favorite creators advertising a tea that makes her lose weight, these not-so-subtle messages about her appearance will sink further into her mind.
She just wants to feel loved and accepted, and society tells her that her appearance, which is connected to what she eats, will help her achieve that. We know it’s deeper than that, but how can you help her see it, too?
Easy Ways to Incorporate Better Nutrition Into Your Daughter’s Recovery
Even when you have a better understanding of nutrition and how it impacts your daughter, what are the best ways to add this information to her life?
The absolute easiest way to do this is by making it a family-wide change. You don’t, and shouldn’t, need to do anything drastic.
Don’t be afraid to talk with your daughter about food and her thoughts on it. She likely has formed opinions about it from her friends, social media, and school. Remember to approach this conversation with compassion and understanding, not judgment. If she has a negative opinion about food, especially because of societal norms, find ways to make a middle ground. Some people may benefit from smaller, more frequent meals versus large ones. This is often more difficult due to school and extracurricular activities, but there are ways to make things work.
Simple Nutrition Tips for Better Mental Health
Being a parent is hard work, and your daughter has a lot on her plate, too. We understand how nutrition and eating habit changes can seem daunting or overwhelming. That’s why we crafted a few simple tips to incorporate into your family and daughter’s life to practice better nutrition.
- Make sure your plate is colorful – Oftentimes, things in the same food category, such as grains, have a similar color. An easy way to know if her plate is nutritional is to ensure she doesn’t have too much of one color on it.
- Don’t make food into a negative thing – Strict, black and white thinking about what foods are “good” and what foods are “bad” can quickly contribute to detrimental mindsets. Don’t talk down about any type of food, but don’t be afraid to make something into a “special occasion” food instead of something she seeks out all the time.
- Listen to your body – Getting in tune with our bodies goes a long way with nutrition and wellness. A simple way to do this is by slowing down when you eat. Encourage your daughter to take her time and savour the food.
- Keep water on hand – Hydration is just as important as the food we eat. Get your daughter a reliable water bottle that her school allows her to have on hand. Often, the simplest way to stay better hydrated is to ensure she has easy access to water.
Find Mental Health Treatment for Teen Girls Right Here in Argyle, TX
Sometimes better nutrition isn’t the only contributing factor to your daughter’s mental health. To get the real answers you need and she deserves, talk to medical professionals and consider looking into teen mental health treatment.
Young girls already have a lot on their plates, combined with external pressure from society at all angles. Not only can a quality mental health program teach her about good nutrition and self-care, but it can also give her the tools she needs to tackle her mental health on her own in the future.
Roots Renewal Ranch is a mental health center for girls aged 13 to 17. We’re dedicated to seeing your daughter thrive. Our program offers a range of therapies from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to animal therapy and more. Give us a call at (888) 399-0489 to learn more about how we can help. She is strong, she is loved, and she is enough; we’re just here to help her see what you see.
