‘I Will Not Eat That’: National Poll Reveals When Teenagers Special Diet Conflict With Holiday Season

Teens on a diet who resist eating mac & cheese or turkey during holiday seasons or family gatherings may lead to a conflict in the household; this is what a survey has found out. Approximately half of 190 polled parents in C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll said that special diets among teens triggered conflict at family gatherings and holidays.

"Teen diets that limit food options can impact the whole family," Sarah Clark, M.P.H., and co-director of the poll said, according to EurekAlert. "That can lead to conflict at the holidays if the diet doesn't include the mainstays of the family's traditional meal," she added.

Last month, researchers from the University of Michigan surveyed 910 parents who have at least one kid with age between 13 and 18. Findings showed 17 percent of the polled parents shared that in the last two years, their juveniles has undertaken at least one of these four special dietary restrictions: with 9 percent teenagers have tried the vegetarian diet, 6 percent have tried the gluten-free diet, 4 percent vegan diet, and 2 percent tried paleo diet.

Teens gave different reasons why they opted for new diets, the survey discovered. Health is the most common reason why teens chose to change their diets, with 32 percent of teenagers citing it as their reason. A 29 percent of teenagers reported that they had tried new diet because another member of the family follows the same diet they are into, and another 17 percent indicated that they had tried new diet because a friend has recommended it.

However, sad news of the survey is these particular diets opted by teenagers can trigger some conflict in families, according to the researchers. Polled parents described some challenges caused by teens on a diet, including finding suitable restaurant for family to eat out (61 percent); more time for preparing the food (55 percent); conflicts regarding food during family gatherings and holiday seasons (54 percent); and cost of new diet foods (50 percent).

To lessen the burden on members of the family, Clark suggested asking the teen to prepare and make his/her meal or maybe look for a diet-complaint version of the favorite food of the whole family. Clark told Live Science that parents must discuss the changes altogether.

Researchers reminded parents to consult and see an expert if they have teenagers who decided to follow another fad diet. It is primarily important if the teen has any chronic illness or taking medicines or at risk of health problems. Consulting an expert will allow parents and teens to know how diets may affect the health of the teenagers.