teens on keto

The keto diet, as well as other low-carb diets, has been shown to cause the dieter to quickly lose weight and keep it off. This has been shown both anecdotally and scientifically. Unfortunately, the rise in obesity isn’t just an adult problem. The rate of childhood obesity has more than doubled in the United States over the past 30 years. Today almost a third of this country’s children and teenagers are overweight or obese. Just like adults, overweight teens are more likely to have health problems later in life such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Let’s not overlook the emotional consequences either. Studies show that overweight and obese teens are bullied more frequently and have more self-esteem issues than their counterparts.

With low-car diets becoming mainstream and teen obesity rising, many parents are wondering if putting their teens on keto is a good idea.

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Will keto work for teens?

The short answer is “yes”. There have been a number of studies on the subject. One study found that 60% of the participants lost significant weight. Interestingly, 22% left the study due to keto being too strict for them. An unexpected finding was a dramatic 50-90% reduction in seizures after following the keto diet.

Other studies showed both teens and adults get the same benefits from a ketogenic diet. Furthermore, none of the teens on keto left the study because of negative side effects.

So you can see the keto diet is safe and effective for teenagers with excessive weight issues.

Does keto work for children?

There’s a long history of using keto to treat children. The ketogenic diet was first developed to help children with epilepsy in the 1920s. Then the ketogenic diet became increasingly popular after it was shown to be effective at treating children with refractory epilepsy in the 1990s. Keto is so effective that it repeatedly provides greater results in children than it does in adults.

Related reading: “What Is Refractory Epilepsy?” on WebMD

Restricting carbs in children

Consuming too many simple carbohydrates has been correlated to the frequency of a child misbehaving. Because of that misbehavior, some parents may want to restrict their children’s carb intake even if they aren’t overweight.

If parents don’t want to put their overweight teens on a keto diet they might consider restricting their carbohydrate consumption to complex carbs. Because complex carbs like whole-grain foods take more time to digest, allowing us to feel fuller longer. Additionally, overweight teens need to restrict their consumption of sugary products like sodas, candies, pastries, and other food loaded with white sugar. Because these foods are loaded with simple carbohydrates (empty calories) causing weight gain because of their high-calorie count.

The keto diet is just as safe and effective for teens and children as it is for adults. The keto diet can help your child lose weight for their health and wellbeing.

Because creating a keto meal plan takes a lot of work, you will find it is much easier and less frustrating to have a custom keto meal plan made for you. Our 8-week custom keto meal plan is an eight-week weight loss plan where you follow the keto diet. Customizing it based on your food preferences, daily activity level, your height and weight, and your weight loss goals. This customized meal plan helps you happily achieve your weight loss target and complete body transformation because you don’t have to compromise with your food preferences.