Teen Weight Loss Facts

 

Adolescence and Weight Problems

Adolescent or teens are undergoing heavy transition between childhood and adulthood. It is the time they experience the first surge of hormones leading to different emotional complexities. They start to assert themselves in every situation and meet challenges like young adults. When social circle starts to widen, teens are always conscious about physical appearance, especially girls. They are anxious to look best, and most of all to look slender in all occasions.

Weight loss sounds like a struggle to some people, while there are ironically those who aspire to gain weight. Losing weight is critical to those who are 20% over weight. If being thin is quite a problem to some, the reality still shouts loud that it is ugly to be fat.

The onset of this issue starts in early teen-age years. High schools are stressed out to be thin while they nibble on high calorie foods. People with fast metabolism or those who weigh normally have the capacity to burn fat easier than those who overweight by heredity.

Teen weight loss has to be ruled out even childhood years. It starts during infanthood. Based on researches, breastfed babies are less likely to suffer from obesity in their adult years. Bottle fed babies tend to suck milk easily compared to breast fed babies who work harder to suck the natural way. Infants who become overweight are higher with bottle fed babies and they carry it over until they reach adolescent years. Once a child is already obese during childhood, the body has already adjusted to such metabolism.

Teens are also affected by hormonal changes. Girls have monthly woes of hormonal peaks, which could be felt during and after menstrual cycle and during ovulation. Water retention usually occurs before a period. This could be avoided by eating less salty food. Boys who are very active with activities tend to eat more but could find balance in shedding fats easily.

They are also prone to obesity given the right formula of eating too much, eating oily/fatty foods and not shedding the excess calories. Needless to say, being overweight knows no gender except for the biological reality that boys are more muscular by girls. By nature girls have 25% more body fat compared to boys because their bodies are prepared for nurturing children.

Weight loss for teen does not have to be complicated. If the teen is excessively problematic about the issue, it is important to consult a doctor and know the reason behind the abnormal weight. The doctor will determine how to attack the real problem first rather than giving ineffective methods of diets. The doctor will know the teen's daily habit and lifestyle from where he can base his judgment in giving the right nutritional advice.

Exercise is an important part of routine session to be undergone by a teen. This is to trim the muscles during weight loss. Exercise not only improves circulation but it also boosts the functioning of the body.

Effective dieting is like a goal with rules to be followed. If an expert has tabulated a weight loss diet, it should be complied with great courage and determination to get the desired result. There is no room for panic and plunging to fast methods of weight loss. It is to make the method slow but sure. This way, the weight loss is permanent.

Behavioral Problems In Teens

Behavioral Problems In Teens


Depression is indeed one of the major causes of behavioral problems among teens. Being a condition that has resulted from a wide range of behavioral, emotional, psychological, biological and environmental factors, depression continues to lead many people's lives astray—especially if not given enough attention and proper treatment as soon as possible.

Today, many studies show that one of the age brackets that are usually attacked by depression is during teenager years. Due to the many drastic changes a teenager has to go through during this major phase in his or her life, depression usually sets in especially if the person does not have enough tolerance to accept major shifts and changes in his or her life. Due to extreme changes and adjustments teenagers has to go through, some of them find it hard to cope up with sudden shifts in their lives.

One of the major factors that trigger depression in teens is low tolerance to stress. Stress-a state in which a strong demand is made on the nervous system-greatly affects the general outlook of a person when it comes to different things. When stress becomes unmanageable to certain individual—especially for a young one-it can result to deep—set depression and even to nervous breakdown.

What can be done?

In the United States alone, statistics shows that about 15 percent of American teenagers suffer from major depression that lead to behavioral problems afterwards. These depression attacks—which are usually characterized by repeated, recurrent and prolong periods of mood changes—are known to lead to significant academic and social impairments and even to suicide-the second leading cause of death in teenagers today.

In simple cases of behavioral problems in teens, the usual method of treating the condition is through a series of counseling where the patient is asked to attend consultations with a registered psychologist. The authorized physician will then administer tests and examinations-that can be oral or written-in order to determine the range of depression attack in the patient. After determining the extent of the depression, the psychologist will tend develop a program that can help the patient cope up with the factors in his or her life that causes stress and depression. These sessions usually last for six to eight series depending on the state of depression the patient is going through.

But, when it comes to major cases of behavior problems in teenagers, a series of counseling is not enough to achieve progressive and positive results. Aside from sessions of counseling, a patient that suffers from great depression attacks is given medications to soothe their nerves, help them gain more sleep and can alleviate their anxiety. These medications usually come in the form of anti-depressants like serotonin inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants that can also be used to help relieve certain types of pain related to depression attacks.

But now, there are public advisories that physicians, caregiver of patients, and parents of teens with behavior problems should be more cautious in giving teens dealing with depression antidepressants. They are encouraged to closely monitor the administration of antidepressants-particularly at the beginning of treatment or when there is a need to change the doses of the medication-in order to avoid the abuse of the antidepressant.