Management of Health Concerns during Puberty

Management of Health concerns during puberty

Poor eating habits

 6 steps to help you get rid of your old, unhealthy habits and create healthier ones:

1. Take Baby Steps. Making small changes in your diet and lifestyle can improve your health as well as trim your waistline. Some suggestions from the experts:

·         Start each day with a nutritious breakfast.

·         Get 8 hours of sleep each night, as fatigue can lead to overeating.

·         Eat your meals seated at a table, without distractions.

·         Eat more meals with your partner or family.

·         Teach yourself to eat when you're really hungry and stop when you're comfortably full.

·         Reduce your portion sizes by 20%, or give up second helpings.

·         Try lower-fat dairy products.

·         Make sandwiches with whole-grain bread and spread them with mustard instead of mayo.

·         Switch to cafe au lait, using strong coffee and hot skim milk instead of cream.

·         Eat a nutritious meal or snack every few hours.

·         Use nonstick pans and cooking spray instead of oil to reduce the fat in recipes.

·         Try different cooking methods, such as grilling, roasting, baking, or poaching.

·         Drink more water and fewer sugary drinks.

·         Eat smaller portions of calorie-dense foods (like casseroles and pizza) and larger portions of water-rich foods (like broth-based soups, salads, and veggies).

·         Flavor your foods with herbs, vinegars, mustards, or lemon instead of fatty sauces.

·         Limit alcohol to 1-2 drinks per day.

2.  Become More Mindful. One of the first steps toward conquering bad eating habits is paying more attention to what you're eating and drinking. "Read food labels, become familiar with lists of ingredients, and start to take notice of everything you put into your mouth," says Gans. Once you become more aware of what you're eating, you'll start to realize how you need to improve your diet. Some people benefit by keeping food diaries.

3.  Make a Plan; Be Specific. How are you going to start eating more fruit, having breakfast every day, or getting to the gym more often?  Spell out your options. For example: Plan to take a piece of fruit to work every day for snacks, stock up on cereal and fruit for quick breakfasts, and go to the gym on the way to work three times a week. "To say 'I am going to work out more,' won't help you," says Gans. "What will help is thinking about when and how you can fit it into your lifestyle."

4. Tackle a New Mini-Goal Each Week. These mini-steps will eventually add up to major change. For example, if your goal is to eat more vegetables, tell yourself you'll try one new veggie each week until you find some you really enjoy. Or look for easy ways to add one more serving of vegetables to your diet each week until you reach your goal. Try topping your lunch sandwich with slices of cucumbers; adding shredded carrots to the muffins you have for breakfast; or topping your dinnertime pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms.

5.  Be Realistic.  Don't expect too much from yourself too soon. It takes about a month for any new action to become habit. Slow and steady wins the race -- along with a dose of vigilance.

 6.  Practice Stress Management. "Focus on dealing with stress through exercise, relaxation, meditation, or whatever works for you, so you don't fall back into those bad habits during periods of stress or use food to help you cope with the situation," advises Foreyt.

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/6-steps-to-changing-bad-eating-habits

The risks of poor nutrition

Good nutrition, based on healthy eating is one essential factor that helps us to stay healthy and be active.

What causes poor nutrition?

Poor eating habits include under- or over-eating, not having enough of the healthy foods we need each day, or consuming too many types of food and drink, which are low in fibre or high in fat, salt and/or sugar.

These unhealthy eating habits can affect our nutrient intake, including energy (or kilojoules) protein, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals as well as fibre and fluid.

How does poor nutrition affect us?

Poor nutrition can impair our daily health and wellbeing and reduce our ability to lead an enjoyable and active life.

In the short term, poor nutrition can contribute to stress, tiredness and our capacity to work, and over time, it can contribute to the risk of developing some illnesses and other health problems such as:

§  being overweight or obese

§  tooth decay

§  high blood pressure

§  high cholesterol

§  heart disease and stroke

§  type-2 diabetes

§  osteoporosis

§  some cancers

§  depression

eating disorders

http://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/healthy+living/is+your+health+at+risk/the+risks+of+poor+nutrition

Lack of sleep lack of physical activity

While sleeping, the body gets a chance to rest. Although most body activities slow down while sleeping, some remain active. The pituitary gland releases more hormones, like growth hormones, when one is asleep. Body cells grow and repair themselves more rapidly during sleep. Lack of sleep during the adolescent years interferes with these processes and might interfere also with proper growth and development.

 Teenagers need nine to ten hours sleep each night to feel well and rested. So you should refrain from staying late at night playing computer games, watching television or just staying awake doing something. Insufficient sleep has negative effects on your growth and development.

Dental problems (dental caries, malocclusions, halitosis, gingivitits, periodontal disease)

The more common dental problems of teenagers include dental caries or tooth decay, halitosis or bad breath, and gingivitis or swelling of the gums. Both dental caries and gingivitis can lead to halitosis. It is important to remember that

all of these are brought about by not brushing, poor tooth brushing skills and drinking carbonated drinks and eating sweets frequently. This can lead to proliferation of dental plaque, which is made up of colonies of microorganisms.

Dental plaque hardens to “tartar” if not removed. So tooth brushing after every 29  meal and flossing at least twice a day should take at least a minimum of three minutes to remove all food particles lodged between the teeth.

Dental problems can also be prevented by doing the following:

a.  Eating nutritious foods

b.  Limiting between-meal snacks, especially sweet and sticky foods

c. Brushing and flossing to remove plaque or tartar

d. Visiting the dentist regularly, at least twice a year

Body odor –

 During the early teen years, the sweat glands become more active. When teenagers play actively or engage in sports or other physical activities, they tend to perspire profusely. If they do not know how to manage this problem, it may cause unpleasant body odor. How does this happen?

 Sweat glands are numerous under the arms and any bacteria under the arms may act on perspiration and cause an unpleasant body odor. If you do not practice proper hygiene, then you might have body odor. Take a bath or shower

daily. Soap and water will remove bacteria and excess oil on the skin. Apply deodorant or antiperspirant daily. Be sure to bring extra clothes and change when needed. These may prevent unpleasant body odor.

Postural problems –

You will notice a great variation in the size and shape of adolescents of the same age. This variation can be a source of concern among teenagers who compare themselves with others. During the growth spurt, teenagers begin to grow at a rapid rate. Teenagers who grow taller than their classmates may feel conscious about their height. Some teenagers may begin to slouch because they are not used to their new height. Others may slouch on their chairs as they study.

Some girls who develop their breast earlier may also feel conscious and tend to slouch. They may develop poor posture if they continue to do this. Remember, good posture helps maintain body alignment. It also helps the bones and muscles to continue to grow properly during adolescence.

Health Concerns Related to Social Changes

 At this point of your life, your friends become very important to you and you probably spend most of your time with them. You meet people and form new relationships.

Problems with relationships

During adolescence, your relationship with other people changes. However, teenagers often change friends as they develop new interests. This may result in breaking up with old friends.

As teenagers you must develop social and communication skills to have a healthy relationship with your family, friends, classmates and other important people in your lives. Effective communication involves exchanging ideas, feelings and viewpoints, and talking and listening skills. Let’s see how this skill applies some events/situations in your lives.

 If you and another person disagree on something, listen to what s/he has to say and let her/him know your point of view. In this way effective communication will take place, thus preventing miscommunication.

 If you are out with friends, let your parents know where you are. Let them know and ask permission if you have a change of plans, like staying late with friends or sleeping over in your friends’ house. This will show your

parents that you are acting responsibly and safely. Communicating with them in that way will bring about good relationship.

Health Concerns Related to Mental Changes

As adolescents, you are expected to solve more complex problems than when you were children. Your thinking skills develop and you can see and understand other people’s point of view.

Mental health concerns in adolescents may be caused by heredity, head injury or chemical imbalance. It may also be caused by stress from feelings of not being accepted, being poor or “different.” Abuse, death of a loved one, or

separation anxiety can also be a mental health concern.

Emotional Changes

 Your emotions and feelings also go through changes during adolescence

and you may experience these problems:

Mood swings/intense emotions

You may be happy at one moment, then feel sad the next. This mood swing might be misunderstood by friends or family. Moodiness among girls may be due to changes in their estrogen level while among boys, it may be due to changes in their testosterone levels. These hormones can cause emotions to be very intense and swing rapidly.

These emotional swings will settle down as you enter the next stage of your growth and development.

Problems related to sexual changes

 Adolescent boys experience “wet dreams” or nocturnal emission. This is involuntary ejaculation of semen during sleep. Although this is quite embarrassing, this is common among teenage boys during puberty.

Adolescent girls experience the onset of menstruation. Girls having their

menstrual period need to be more conscious about hygiene.