Weight loss can help improve your health if your doctor has indicated that you're overweight, but a 17-year-old boy or girl shouldn't obsessively restrict calories or over exercise.

When you want to reach a healthy weight, trimmimg body fat is preferable to losing valuable muscle mass. An overweight teenager burns fat just like an adult, by making smart dietary choices and moving more.

Losing a lot of weight in two weeks is unrealistic for anyone -- adult or teen; instead, use the short time to transform unhealthy habits and create a realistic relationship with food. At 14, you're still growing, so getting adequate nutrition and calories should be your primary dietary focus.

Managing your weight and being happy with your look is hard for anyone, especially a teen who's subject to peer pressure and images of skinny celebs. But bodies come in different sizes, and you can be healthy at a variety of weights.

Belly fat in kids is just as serious of a health concern as it is for adults. According to research presented in a 2014 issue of the journal Pediatrics, from the years 2011 to 2012, almost 33 percent of children ages 6 to 18 years qualified as abdominally obese, according to their waist-to-height ratio.

Diverticulitis is a disease characterized by inflamed or infected fluid-filled pouches, known as diverticula, in the digestive tract. Diverticula can form in the esophagus, stomach, small intestine and anywhere else in the digestive system, but most commonly occurs in the large intestine.

Stress is one factor that can explain sudden weight loss, according to the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. Chronic stress over time or major stress from a single traumatic event can both cause you to drop pounds.

Although fluctuations in weight often occur as part of teens’ normal growth patterns, a drastic loss or gain in weight can potentially indicate something more serious. Sudden weight changes might happen as a routine part of a growth spurt or they might be red flags for emotional disorders or eating disorders.

An ileus is a type of bowel obstruction in which intestinal peristalsis temporarily ceases. Peristalsis is the wavelike contractions that push food through the intestine. Paralytic ileus is one of the most common causes of intestinal blockage in infants and children.

Nutrition specialist Dr. Melina Jampolis says that about 1 in 3 children in America are either overweight or obese. Like overweight and obese adults, the goal for children should focus on maintaining a healthy weight.

Just like adults, the obesity epidemic is hitting teens hard. But if they're trying to lose belly fat, teens should not follow a restrictive fad diet that promises quick weight loss. For a teen, it's more about creating healthy habits so his middle trims down as he slowly grows into his weight.

No standard weight guidelines exist for teen girls. While you might feel different than your lithe and lean friends, you should only try to lose weight if your doctor has indicated that it will improve your health. Skip the fad and starvation diets; they'll do you more harm than good.