Fats for Active Teens

Fats are made up of the chemicals called hydrogen, carbon, and hydrogen. They give you 9 calories per gram of energy for long term exercises that aren't at a high intensity such as walking and jogging. . The recommended amount of fat intake for an active American teen is 38%. Fat contains many different groups. One of them is saturated fats which is considered a main cause of coronary heart disease, diabetes and other major diseases so no more than the 10% of the recommended 38% fat you should eat. Another group is unsaturated fats, which comes in the form of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats have been proven to lower the risk of coronary heart disease and polyunsaturated fats don’t cause heart disease but don’t prevent them either. Essential Fatty Acids is another group of fats that are required for healthy cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. The last group is cholesterol, which though isn't thought to be good but one type of cholesterol called HDL can actually act as a scavenger for removing cholesterol from artery walls. Some sources of fat are cheese, butter, avocado, red meat, almonds, olive oil. (Ella)

http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/adolescent/adolescentnutrition.html
http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/cholesterol.htm