What can parents do to ensure their vegetarian teen eats a healthy diet?
A teen may decide to become a vegetarian, but not have the time to commit to “doing it right.” To help your teen adopt a healthy vegetarian diet, you may want to pitch in and shop for some of the specialty foods like soy milk or prepare vegetarian meals for the whole family a few times a week. Talk with your teen about foods and recipes. Ultimately, everyone in the family may enjoy some of the new dishes. There are some quick snack foods that can tide a hungry teen over till dinnertime, including dried fruit, trail mix, popcorn, yogurt, veggie burgers, hummus with pita or bagels with nut butter. Avoid empty calorie foods when possible since vegetarian foods, being plant-based, often are high in fiber and may cause a feeling of fullness before all the needed nutrients are consumed.
