Parents and Teen Obesity

Did you know that you are your children’s role model not just in terms of attitudes but in terms of food attitudes.

Researchers from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that if parents eat five servings of fruits and vegetables, their children follows but if parents eat junk foods, children do the same.

Some of the findings were as follows:

•Teens whose parents were drinking soda every day are 40 percent more likely to follow and drink soda every day themselves.
•Teens whose parents were eating fruits and vegetables are 16 percent more likely to do the same.
•Almost half of the adolescents whose parents drink soda every day eat fast food at least once a day, while 39 percent of teens whose parents do not drink soda eat fast food at least once daily.

Good habits indeed start at home. Parents should set a good food example for their children for them to be healthy and disciplined.

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Teen Stress and Adult Life

Teenage years are one of most memorable periods in our lives. It is where you experience all your "firsts"-first love, first broken heart, first fight with parents or peers, and the list goes on. Teen years is a period where teenagers experience all the possible feelings and emotions, whether positive or negative, good or bad.

However, according to UCLA researchers, negative emotions such as depression or stress during teenage years can cause a negative effect during adulthood. A normal, healthy teen that experience a stressful situation will likely to develop a higher level of an inflammatory marker called C-reactive protein or CRP. CRP was found out to later develop as cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Stressors such as conflict with family or friends and social rejections are just some of the most frequent and powerful predictors of psychological distress among individuals. This means that the daily interpersonal stress that we have encountered during our high school years are associated with elevated level of inflammation which will possibly develop into CRP, even among healthy teenagers.

The message to parents is that although we don't want to overprotect teenagers and keep them from going through important learning experiences, we also want to be loving, caring and careful, because what happens to teenagers can have an strong effect later in their lives.

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