subject: Help Teens Lose Weight Safely [print this page] In America more than 12.5 million children are overweight and while itcan bedifficult enough for us as adults to take responsibility for our own weght and well being, imagine how difficult that can be for an overweight teenager who is already struggling with their bodily changes. The pain and suffering of overweight teens can lead to anxiety and depression as they try to cope with peer pressure, teasing, verbal abuse and isolation from their friends.
Obesity is defined as having an excessive accumulation of body fat which will result in the person's body being about 20% heavier than their ideal body weight. So those people whose weight is above what is considered their ideal range, are defined as being overweight. Obesity is a common eating disorder that is associated with teens.
Although teens may have fewer weight related health issues than adults, those teens that are overweight now are much more likely to become overweight as an adult. Teens who are overweight (in fact people of all ages that are overweight) are at risk from a number of different health issues, and these include:
Those teens who are obese may find that they are not only physically unfit, but their well being is usually very low as well. Many obese people will also tend to have a shorter life expectancy than those who are the right weight for their body size.
Plus, it can also lead to social disabilities and unhappiness, which in turn may cause them stress and in some cases, may make them mentally ill as well.
1. Heart Disease
2. Diabetes
3. High Blood Pressure
4. Strokes
5. Some forms of Cancer
A study that was carried out and details which were releasedrecently suggested that overweight children are more likely to be involved in bullying than those children who are a normal weight. But they can not only be the victims of bullying, they may be the perpetrators as well.
The development of their own personal identity and body image is an important goal for any teenager.
There are a number of causes for obesity which center around an imbalance in the teens energy they put into their bodies, (calories that they obtain from the food they eat) and the energy they release from their bodies (how good their metabolism is, and how much physical activity they take part in). Often, when a teen is overweight, it is because there is a problem with the nutritional value of their diet, or it may be psychological, familial or physiological, all of which we will discuss a little bit more.
The Family
In this blog, we look at various ways in which help can be provided to overweight teens, and how they can lose weight successfully without them resorting to fad diets etc.
Heredity
Recently, information has shown that heredity can influence fatness in a child and teen. It was found that children born to overweight mothers have been found to be less active, and often gain more weight by the age of 3 months compared to those children born to mothers who are a normal weight, which suggests a possible inborn drive to conserve energy.
Inactivity
On average, an American child will spend several hours each day watching television or on a computer. Compare this to years ago, when this time would have been spent doing some form of physical activity instead. There are a large amount of teens and children who are now overweight, as they are expending little energy, and often eat high calorie snacks while watching TV or playing on the computer. Today in the US, about 1/3 of elementary school children carry out some form of physical education, and less than 1/5 take part in physical activity programs after school.
Help Teens Lose Weight Safely
By: colin wells
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