I. Adolescence is a critical period of an individual’s growth because this is a stage where most of the growth and development occurs. Most pubescents are sensitive about the food they consume, and they tend to either overeat or undereat. Adolescent eating habits may be either healthy or unhealthy depending on various reasons they may have or encounter. Despite the fact that most teenagers take unhealthy meals there are some with healthy eating habits.
A. Healthy Eating habits
1. Taking regular meals.
2. Taking a balanced diet.
B. Unhealthy Eating habits.
1. Lack of a balanced diet.
2. Overeating and undereating
II. External patterns behind adolescent feeding habits.
A. Peer Influences on adolescent food consumption.
1. Modern food fads, where adolescents want to be identified with the latest junk like Cronuts.
2. Peer pressure in that the pubescents would wish to fit in their friendship circles. Their friends tend to influence the kinds of food they eat and in most cases it is unhealthy.
B. Social influences on adolescent food consumption.
1. Parental influence whereby most parents usually determine what their children eat at home. Some parents are less concerned with a healthy diet hence, their children eat poorly. Some ensure that their kids have healthy meals.
2. Environmental factors whereby, accessibility to unhealthy food results to unhealthy eating habits. Culture; some cultures discourage eating some kinds of foods like beef or pork.
III. Internal patterns behind adolescent eating habits.
A. The level of activity; active adolescents especially in sports tend to eat health o fuel their activities. Some who are quite inactive tend to feed more on junk since they do not require so much energy.
B. Personal issues, whereby some adolescents are sensitive about what they eat and hence tend to undereat. In some cases, they may experience stress that could cause them to eat too much, (McLaughlin, 2016).
IV. Effects of adolescent feeding habits, which include positive and negative impacts.
A. Positive Effects from good feeding habits
1. Proper brain functioning and allows better concentration and memory capacity.
2. Healthy physical growth, which would not result in obesity.
B. Negative Effects
1. Weight gain that leads to obesity if unhealthy overeating is prolonged.
2. Reduced brain functioning, and poor memory capacity and lack of proper concentration (McLaughlin, 2016).
IV. Conclusion.
Adolescents should eat healthy because of the positive effects that come with it.
Parents and the society at large should play a great role in ensuring that adolescents consume healthy foods for better growth.
References
Badal, T. (2016). 17 Superfoods for Teens. Better Homes & Gardens. Retrieved 15 March 2016, from http://www.bhg.com/recipes/healthy/eating/nutritional-guidelines-for-teens/
McLaughlin, A. (2016). Short Term Effects of Bad Eating Habits. Healthyeating.sfgate.com. Retrieved 15 March 2016, from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/short-term-effects-bad- eating-habits-2579.html
