Healthy Habits

Important nutrients for teenagers

Calcium
Your body is building its skeleton while you’re a teenager. To make it as strong as possible, you need to eat foods rich in calcium.
· Choose dairy products, including low fat milk, yoghurt, cheese, eating 2-3 serves every day.
· If you don’t eat dairy foods, other good sources of calcium are calcium-fortified soy milk, canned fish (eg. salmon or sardines), certain nuts (eg. almonds, hazelnuts), dried beans & peas (eg. chickpeas, kidney beans), lentils and wholegrain breads & cereals (eg wholegrain bread, brown rice, porridge).
· If you drink soft drinks, try replacing one or two each day with water or milk (which has calcium and other valuable nutrients).
· Try smoothies (made in a blender with trim milk, yoghurt and fruit) for breakfast or a snack – they tick the boxes for calcium, fruit, and taste.