Many teenagers (青少年) don’t care about their health these days. Li Lin is one of them. She doesn’t have breakfast and only eats fast food for lunch. It has become her habit. Sometimes she eats too much fast food and skips dinner. So, she gets hungry and eats something late at night.

Li Lin doesn’t exercise. She doesn’t like to go outside to play, either. She always stays at home and watches TV. She also likes to eat potato chips while she is watching TV. Her school is very close to her house, but she never walks to school because her dad has a car and he always gives her a ride in the morning.

Li Lin is a typical teenager. Today, too many teenagers eat unbalanced meals and exercise too little. Their bodies are going through a lot of changes as they grow. If they want to become healthy adults, they need to eat healthy food and do regular exercise. They need to care about their health. They can start with making small changes in their daily lives.

Here are some pieces of advice to help teenagers stay healthy.

●Try to have breakfast every morning.

●Stay away from fast food. Eat healthy food like fruits and vegetables.

●Don’t watch TV too much and do more outdoor activities.

●Walk as often as possible.

Some foods, like fruits, are naturally sweet. Other foods and drinks are sweet because sugar is added to them. Sugar-sweetened foods and drinks have lots of extra calories (卡路里) but no added nutrients (营养物) .

Some of the most common sources (来源) of added sugars include

●sugar-sweetened drinks, especially sodas, energy drinks, coffee and tea, and juices with added sugars

●desserts like ice cream, sweet snacks, and candy

Less than 10% of your daily calories should come from added sugars. For example, if you take in 2,000 calories a day, fewer than 200 of those calories should come from added sugars. One can of soda often has 150 calories from sugar!

Tips for cutting down added sugars include

●reaching for an apple, banana, grapes, or other fruit instead of a candy.

●limiting or not adding any sugar to foods and drinks.

●avoiding or cutting down flavored (风味) coffees, teas, sodas, milkshakes, and other drinks sweetened with sugar, which are sold in many coffee shops and fast-food restaurants.

●choosing foods and drinks low in added sugars. You can check the amount (量) of added sugars in packaged foods by reading the Nutrition Facts label(营养成分表) (see example in Picture 1).