All the fuss about Lifestyle alteration in Teens
When it comes to fitness or losing weight as most people consider it as equivalent to being fit,it is suggested that one must make “lifestyle” changes to achieve their desired level of fitness.
The question arises what exactly does making a lifestyle change mean?
Why lifestyle? Does the way of your life cause your fitness level to go down or is it just your diet?
This article talks about the effect of one’s lifestyle in causing or treating a disorder especially in teenagers.
Over the last few decades we have noticed a huge change in how teenagers live their lives. It is more competitive, hectic and challenging on the mind rather than the body.
Although, this has caused a huge impact on the mind and the body both. Physically, we have seen problems such as obesity, child diabetes, high blood pressure, abuse of substances and mentally it has caused invisible but severe issues such as hypertension, anxiety, depression and poor mental health in general.
“Out of 250 participants, majority (62.0%) were males. Only 4.8% were currently using tobacco while 3.2% respondents admitted having consumed alcohol in last 30 days. Only 28.8% did brisk walking and cycling for at least 30 minutes continuously thrice a week. Nearly 22.4% were involved in moderate intensity sports while 20.4% in vigorous intensity sports. Nearly 5.6% regularly practiced yoga. About 52.4% were non vegetarians. Nearly 70.8% consumed adverse food items such as fried food, cheese, butter, meat, egg, sweetened drinks, pizza, burger, bakery items, pickles and sauces daily. Only 64% consumed fruits while 75.6% consumed vegetables for at least three days in a typical week. Also 24.4% added extra salt to cooked food items. The overall prevalence of hypertension was 12.0%. About 64.4% were underweight, while 7.6% were overweight.”
These were the results of a study published in the International journal of community health and medicine. The numbers show how the impact of immobile lifestyle habits combined with a poor diet contributed to a poor health over all.
If we break down the results of this study we can clearly see that the following have been the reasons for a poor lifestyle:
- Consumption of tobacco and alcohol.
Smoking tobacco has ill effects like heart diseases, lower metabolism rates, decline in the ability to exercise. Alcohol too, damages the liver and causes various problems in the growing body of a teenager.
- Less Physical Activity
A stagnant lifestyle leads to various problems such as weight gain, underdevelopment of the body, inflexibility and it can also cause cardiovascular diseases, anxiety and other serious concerns.
- High consumption of fatty, junk food and less consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
A healthy diet is a major part of a healthy lifestyle. A healthy diet does not necessarily eliminate certain foods but aims at creating a balance of macros and vitamins. Junk food does not provide enough vitamins and minerals essential for a healthy body. They are just empty high calorie food which satisfy the taste buds for a moment and also contain substances which can be addictive in nature.
All these factors have a huge influence on one’s mental health too. Studies have shown higher stress levels in teenagers in the past 5 years than ever before. This day and age is a time of excessive competition and unlimited resources, teenagers are in that phase of their lives where they feel confused and often resort to quick fixes for dealing with their anxiety.
A careful introspection of one’s lifestyle with professional guidance, if needed can solve all these problems.
A simple act of meditation for 5 minutes and practice of mindfulness can go a long way in dealing with lifestyle disorders.
Learning to adapt to healthy habits in teenage is the best skill to be acquired in this phase of life.
It starts with a practice of walking for half an hour more than usual, filling the plate with more greens, taking time out to breathe in fresh air, switching off the internet for 20 mins but goes a long way to attain a healthy life overall.
It is never about fad diets or quick fix medicines but always about adopting small habits in one’s life to make momentous changes in one’s life.
