What is the GDA of a teenager?

Answer 1

GDAs are given on labels for five key nutrients: Calories, Fat, Saturated Fat, Fiber, and Salt, but they are given for adults. The GDAs for teenagers vary on age and sex. The GDAs for teens are below.

Calories (Energy GDAs:

11-14: males 2200 females 1850

15-18: males 2750 females 2100

19+: males 2500 females 2000

Calories are a measure of how much energy food and drink products contain. The calories a food delivers depend on the nutrients it contains. A gram of carbohydrates has four calories, just like a gram of protein. One gram of fat instead has nine calories and a gram of alcohol seven calories.

You should limit your calorie intake because if you do not use all the energy stored in the food you eat the excess will eventually be stored as fat. Being overweight is a direct consequence of excessive calorie/energy intake, which in turn can increase the risk of conditions such as Heart disease, Diabetes, high blood pressure and ill health.

Eating too few calories is just as damaging to your general wellbeing and can lead to serious health conditions caused by nutrient deficiencies.

Fat

11-14 males 85 females 70

15-18 males 105 females 80

19+ males 95 females 70

Fat provides energy (nine calories for each gram of fat), and foods that contain a lot of fat provide a lot of energy.

Fat is made up of different types of fatty acids. You can have monounsaturated (such as those found in nuts and vegetable oils), polyunsaturated (such as those found in oily fish) and saturates fatty acids (such as those found in butter and animal fat). Whilst monounsaturated and especially polyunsaturated fatty acids are good for our health, a high intake of saturated fatty acids can have a negative impact on health, which is why we can have a GDA for both total fat and saturates (saturated fat), so we can help you keep an eye on your intakes.

It is important to have some fat in our diet because it's a critical nutrient for many functions that take place in our body and because some of them (the essential fatty acids) cannot be produced by our body and must be supplied by the diet.

Fats are important for the formation of hormones, which carry fat-soluble vitamins, and are necessary for their absorption. However fat is only needed for health in small amounts. No more than about one third of our energy intake should come from fat.

Some examples of foods high in fat are oils, butter, full-fat milk and cheese, pies and pastries.

Saturated fat

11-14 males 25 females 25

15-18 males 35 females 25

19+ males 30 females 20

Saturates (saturated fat) are the type of fat you should try to eat less of because too much can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which in turn increases the chance of developing heart disease. Eating less of it minimises the risks.

Experts recommend that not more than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturates (saturated fats).

Some examples of categories of foods high in saturates (saturated fats) are meat products and pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter, pastry, cakes and biscuits, cream and palm oil.

Fiber

11-14 males and females 15 g

15-19+ males and females 18 g

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that cannot be digested. Most carbohydrates are broken down into sugar molecules, but fiber cannot be, and passes through the body undigested. It helps regulate the body's use of sugars and helps keep hunger and blood sugar in check. It adds bulk to the diet, helping to avoid constipation.

Foods that provide fiber include: most fruits and vegetables, cereals, dried beans and peas, and whole grains.

Salt

11-19+ males and females 6 g

Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and it's the sodium that, at high doses, can be bad for your health.

Sodium together with other nutrients plays many important roles; for example, it helps to regulate the body's water content and it's involved in nerve function, in muscular activity and in energy utilisation.

Salt is used in food manufacturing as a flavour enhancer, a food preservative, to inhibit microbiological spoilage and to give texture to some foods.

An excessive intake of salt (sodium) in the diet can increase the risk of high blood pressure which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. This is why it is generally recommended to limit the daily intake of salt to 6 grams (2.4g sodium) and to check and compare the salt/sodium content of a food on the front of pack or back of pack nutrition labels.

Answer 2

GDAs are given on labels for five key nutrients: Calories, Fat, Saturated Fat, Fiber, and Salt, but they are given for adults. The GDAs for teenagers vary on age and sex. The GDAs for teens are below.

Calories (Energy GDAs:

11-14: males 2200 females 1850

15-18: males 2750 females 2100

19+: males 2500 females 2000

Calories are a measure of how much energy food and drink products contain. The calories a food delivers depend on the nutrients it contains. A gram of carbohydrates has four calories, just like a gram of protein. One gram of fat instead has nine calories and a gram of alcohol seven calories.

You should limit your calorie intake because if you do not use all the energy stored in the food you eat the excess will eventually be stored as fat. Being overweight is a direct consequence of excessive calorie/energy intake, which in turn can increase the risk of conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure and ill health.

Eating too few calories is just as damaging to your general wellbeing and can lead to serious health conditions caused by nutrient deficiencies.

Fat

11-14 males 85 females 70

15-18 males 105 females 80

19+ males 95 females 70

Fat provides energy (nine calories for each gram of fat), and foods that contain a lot of fat provide a lot of energy.

Fat is made up of different types of fatty acids. You can have monounsaturated (such as those found in nuts and vegetable oils), polyunsaturated (such as those found in oily fish) and saturates fatty acids (such as those found in butter and animal fat). Whilst monounsaturated and especially polyunsaturated fatty acids are good for our health, a high intake of saturated fatty acids can have a negative impact on health, which is why we can have a GDA for both total fat and saturates (saturated fat), so we can help you keep an eye on your intakes.

It is important to have some fat in our diet because it's a critical nutrient for many functions that take place in our body and because some of them (the essential fatty acids) cannot be produced by our body and must be supplied by the diet.

Fats are important for the formation of hormones, which carry fat-soluble vitamins, and are necessary for their absorption. However fat is only needed for health in small amounts. No more than about one third of our energy intake should come from fat.

Some examples of foods high in fat are oils, butter, full-fat milk and cheese, pies and pastries.

Saturated fat

11-14 males 25 females 25

15-18 males 35 females 25

19+ males 30 females 20

Saturates (saturated fat) are the type of fat you should try to eat less of because too much can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which in turn increases the chance of developing heart disease. Eating less of it minimises the risks.

Experts recommend that not more than 10 percent of your calories should come from saturates (saturated fats).

Some examples of categories of foods high in saturates (saturated fats) are meat products and pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter, pastry, cakes and biscuits, cream and palm oil.

Fiber

11-14 males and females 15 g

15-19+ males and females 18 g

Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that cannot be digested. Most carbohydrates are broken down into sugar molecules, but fiber cannot be, and passes through the body undigested. It helps regulate the body's use of sugars and helps keep hunger and blood sugar in check. It adds bulk to the diet, helping to avoid constipation.

Foods that provide fiber include: most fruits and vegetables, cereals, dried beans and peas, and whole grains.

Salt

11-19+ males and females 6 g

Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and it's the sodium that, at high doses, can be bad for your health.

Sodium together with other nutrients plays many important roles; for example, it helps to regulate the body's water content and it's involved in nerve function, in muscular activity and in energy utilisation.

Salt is used in food manufacturing as a flavour enhancer, a food preservative, to inhibit microbiological spoilage and to give texture to some foods.

An excessive intake of salt (sodium) in the diet can increase the risk of high blood pressure which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke. This is why it is generally recommended to limit the daily intake of salt to 6 grams (2.4g sodium) and to check and compare the salt/sodium content of a food on the front of pack or back of pack nutrition labels.

Answer 3

About 2200 calories a day, because a young woman is still growing.