A teenager, or teen, is a person who falls within the ages of 13 to 18 years old. The word “teenager” is often associated with adolescence. Teenage or pre-adult is a time phase where a human body grows, develops, flourish and it’s very necessary at this point of time to take good care of health.
Getting youth involved in healthy lifestyle and living and fitness studio programming is critical to their development. Healthy living is an essential component to living and breathing. Making good decisions on what you eat, drink, how often you exercise and whether you wear your seat belt when you drive ultimately affects your healthy living bubble.
Why are junk food so popular among teens?
There are a variety of junk foods available in the market which involves a huge mixture of western foods as well. And as known people at this age don’t like having healthy food like green vegetables, soups, juices etc.
So adolescents are the greatest consumers of calorie-rich “junk” foods. During puberty, many children have an insatiable appetite as rapid growth requires lots of energy.
Having this kind of food sometimes doesn’t affect much of a body but it may have bad influence when the consumption of western foods prevail for a longer period of time.
Fast foods are getting popular with nuclear families because working parents have less time for meal preparation by themselves. Majority of working parents with school going children are stressed. Children spend most of the time away from home by attending tuition classes after school hours. Children take breakfast at home and fast food in school or outside school. A positive correlation of increased fast food consumption and increased body mass index was found among adolescents.
Socio economic status is an important factor related to fast food consumption. Children from high socio-economic status prefer fast foods to traditional foods despite their better nutritional knowledge. It has been seen that children who are overweight are significantly more likely to recognize fast food restaurant logos than other food logos.
Again, families’ socio-demographic characteristics play a role in children’s recognition of food logos. Factors related to fast food preference by Bangladeshi university students are convenience, easy accessibility, taste, cost and quick service in fast food shops. Most of the fast food users take such kind of food though they know well about negative effects on themselves associated with fast food consumption.
Effects on consumption of excess fast food
Fast food consumption is definitely harmful to child health. Children who eat fast food have higher intake of energy, fat, saturated fat, sodium, carbonated soft drink, and lower intake of vitamins A and C, milk, fruits and vegetables than those who do not take fast food. Diet with high sugar, salt, saturated fat and calorie is responsible for disabilities like obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia and impaired glucose tolerance.
Fast food may be associated with poor hygiene during preparation, storage and handling. It invites microbiological contamination and is a risk factor of heart diseases even. Energy content of such food is much more than the recommended allowance for children. It leads to higher calories from total and saturated fat where micro nutrient content is low . Calcium and magnesium depleted fast food are responsible for osteoporosis. Diets rich in free sugars may lead to increased risk of dental caries also.
Very often fast food restaurants and the habit of fast food consumption are becoming an issue of criticism in the media of Bangladesh due to adulteration of food items with food colors, other hazardous chemicals, microbial safety and hygiene of the restaurants. The coloring agents in the foods are regarded as carcinogen.
Why should junk food get avoided?
Nitrates: Processed foods contain a large amount of nitrates. Nitrates are used mostly in meats like cold cuts to keep them from growing bacteria or losing aesthetic appeal. Even though once, the USDA attempted to ban nitrates. Some organizations, like the Organic Consumers Association, site studies that show increased occurrences of cancer in those who consume too many nitrate-containing meats.
Fat: Most processed food contains a lot of fat. This is generally saturated fat, which can increase LDL cholesterol.
Sugar: Processed foods are also generally high in sugars, which can make them very high in calories.
Salt: Salt (or sodium) is used as a preservative in foods and can increase blood pressure and cause bloating.
Vitamins: Processed foods are not known for their healthfulness and many are bereft of vitamins.
Why is a healthy lifestyle necessary for youth?
In the midst of all the fun that comes with the younger phase of life, there lies a sleek difference between healthy and unhealthy habits. Most of the time, the youth are inclined towards the items that are hazardous to health. Not only that, the lifestyle has turned out to be much more stressful than before and hence there are times when the younger blood of the country suffers from problems like – depression, anxiety. Most of the time, our simple, little and negligible habits like – not having breakfast or taking too much pressure of work leads to unhealthiness which intents to destroy our health along with the peace of mind.
Now, what is the need of living a healthy lifestyle especially for youth? If this question carelessly haunts your rebellious nature, well then we have some reasons for you, and we are assured that these reasons will take you on a thoughtful tour.
Health is wealth – You must have come across this old proverb several times and we believe that it holds the truth. At a young age you must have goals to attain, priorities to keep and aims to pursue but if Due to your unhealthy lifestyle, you come across an ailment then, who is going to take care of your goals?
Peaceful mind – One who takes care of his or her own health is always peaceful in his or her mind. Mental health is as important as physical health and that is the reason why your lifestyle should be healthy because, even if you are physically fine you have to mentally at peace as well.
The good feel factor – If you begin to live a healthy lifestyle, there is a feel good factor that follows. A person who celebrates his or her life in a healthy way definitely glows more and feels good about him or herself. Moreover, it is absolutely important for each one of us to feel good about ourselves because then only we can feel good about others too.
Long journey of life – A healthy lifestyle provides longer life. If you stick to a healthy lifestyle at your young age, chances are that you would live for longer and moreover, even in your old age you will remain to be absolutely fit, all thanks to your healthy habits regarding your lifestyle.
Make sure to look your best – One who is indulged into a healthy lifestyle are definitely making the most of their looks. Being healthy tends to add a natural spark on your face and personality and not only that, it also keeps you away from skin problems such as acne, blackheads, pimples etc which is common at the adolescence age.
Is dieting good for teenagers?
Teens need to be careful about dieting. Extreme dieting can cause problems if they don’t get the right kinds and amounts of nutrients
Everyone needs enough calories to keep their bodies running well. Any diet on which you don’t eat enough calories and important nutrients can be harmful. Extreme low-fat diets also can be bad for you. Everyone needs some fat in their diet, so no one should eat a completely fat-free diet. And eating healthy meals and snacks and exercising can help them lose weight and support normal growth. Regular exercise can help teens feel healthier and better about themselves.
People diet for many reasons. Some are at an unhealthy weight and need to pay closer attention to their eating and exercise habits. Some play sports and want to be in top physical condition. Others may think they would look and feel better if they lost a few pounds.
Lots of people feel pressured to lose weight and try different types of diets. But if the person really needs to lose weight, improving then they must improve their eating habits and exercising will help them more than any fad diet.
One should never restrict them towards a limited group of food because each food has its own benefit and a good body requires all of them to get fit and healthy.
How can one lose weight safely?
Teens need to be careful about dieting. Extreme dieting can cause problems if the person doesn’t get the right kinds and amounts of nutrients. But eating healthy meals and snacks and exercising can help them lose weight and support normal growth. Regular exercise can help teens feel healthier and better about themselves.
The best way to diet is to eat a variety of healthy food. Aim to eat more fruits and veggies, whole grains, and drink water instead of sugary drinks like sports drinks or sodas. Cut back on meats high in fat (like burgers and hot dogs), fried foods, sweets, and other junk food.
If a person is concerned about their weight or think that they need to lose weight, then can have advice from a doctor or a registered dietitian.
Healthy living during teenage
A pre adult person can live in a healthy way through following ways:
- Exercise! Be active every day. Walk to school, sign up for a fitness class, find a sport you like, or dance in the bedroom. It doesn’t matter what a person does — just move!
- Eat 3 meals a day, with healthy snacks.
- Drink water. Try to avoid drinks that are high in sugar. Fruit juice can have a lot of calories, so limit your adolescent’s intake. Whole fruit is always a better choice.
- Eat at least five servings a day of fruits and veggies.
- Choose a variety of protein foods, like lean meat and poultry, seafood, beans, soy products, and nuts.
- Eat whole grains (like whole-wheat bread, brown rice, and oatmeal), which provide fiber to help you feel full.
- Eat breakfast. Studies show that people who eat breakfast do better in school, tend to eat less throughout the day, and are less likely to be overweight.
- Limit eating out and choose smaller sizes at fast-food restaurants.
To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life
