Determining the Recommended Daily Caloric Intake

There are many factors that influence the total amount of recommended daily caloric intake--activity level, gender, height, weight, age, and size. 

A method that can be used to determine caloric intake:
First you have to determine your activity level; a low activity level means that you don't exercise or walk to places like school. Moderate activity levels would be exercising three to five times per week, while those with high activity levels exercise daily for 30 minutes or more.
In order to find a sufficient amount of calories to eat, multiply (the teen's) weight by either: 12 for low, 14 for moderate, or 20 for high. 
*Weight may not be the best way to determine intake though




It is usually suggested for a male to have eat more calories than a female. This is because male bodies have a quicker metabolism, and males are relatively bigger in size & weight. Most older teenagers (15-18) would also need to have a higher amount of caloric intake due to the fact that their bodies are more mature. 

Even though this helps to determine the average caloric intake a teenager should eat, a vegetarian needs more calories to make up for all the nutrients missing because of the exclusion of meat. Most vegetarians are smaller than an average teen because they don't eat all the protein that everyone else eats. (However, just because a vegetarian doesn't intake protein from meat, that doesn't mean that plant-based foods won't give enough of the needed quota.)