Attention Teens Never Skip Another Meal ...

1. Stay Energized

One of the primary reasons not to skip meals is simply that eating keeps you energized! You need to be awake for all the test-acing, note-taking, and lecture-listening you plan on doing throughout the day. Your brain doesn’t know how to function optimally without plenty of calories keeping you awake!

2. Keep Growing

Just like your brain can’t do its job without food, your body can’t really do so either. From ages 13 to 18, some girls keep growing. You may be one of the lucky few to have a growth spurt after the start of high school, but you’ll never know if you don’t provide your bones and muscles with the nutrients they require for growth.

3. Improve Your Mood

Your friends, family, and teachers will all be thankful when you eat more meals, because skipping meals has an effect on your mood, too! You become crankier and more lethargic when you’re hungry. If you want to be fun and have fun, make sure you’re eating plenty of nutritious, filling meals.

4. Keep You Focused

I think it’s pretty safe to say that when teens are hungry, they’re only thinking about one thing: food! I can remember dozens of days in class when a teacher was lecturing, and all I could do was stare at the wall imagining milkshakes and pizza because I skipped lunch. Don’t make my mistake! Fill up at breakfast and lunch every day so that you can focus in school throughout the day.

5. Start Good Habits

Eating well-balanced meals (not pizza and milkshakes) at regular intervals throughout the day is a great habit to start in high school! If you skip breakfast and lunch, then pig out at dinner, you’re going to get accustomed to living that way. However, that’s not the way your body is meant to take in food. So do your body and future self a favor by forcing yourself to eat healthy meals throughout the day, so that it because natural!

6. There’s No Need to

Let’s face it—skipping meals is not fun. It’s not fashionable, nor healthy, nor helpful in any way. So why do it? Skipping meals is merely a bad habit that can lead to worse, more severe eating disorders. While missing meals every once in a while simply because you’re not hungry isn’t life-threatening, doing so regularly has no benefit to your body and lifestyle. So, in short, eat all of your meals!

7. It’s Not Dieting

After reading that last point, you might think there is a need, because skipping meals is just "dieting." But in fact, it isn’t. Diets that actually work balance healthy eating with exercise, they don’t eliminate meals altogether. If you’re unhappy with the way your body looks, talk to your parents and doctor about a healthy meal and exercise plan that might help you reach your goals.

Overall, skipping meals is bad news. For teens especially, eating all three meals, or smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day is healthiest. Why do you choose not to skip meals?