Adolescent Food Consumption
I. Adolescence and food consumption during adolescence
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 adolescents who have good and healthy eating habits.
A. Healthy Eating Habits. In a study, researchers conducted a survey of more than 150 adolescents in China. They found that adolescents perceive that eating at a regular time and having a balanced diet are important aspects of healthy eating. Usually, adolescents eat healthy food, when they are at home and/or when they feel sick. According to the survey, parents and government publicity are the most common communicating and socializing agents in healthy eating as compared to the teachers and/or friends. Parents are also among the most effective sources in encouraging healthy eating. On the other hand, research shows that news and fear are among the most important sources of discouraging unhealthy foods and eating habits (Chan 6).
B. Unhealthy Eating Habits. Unhealthy eating is common in adolescents. In a study, researchers found that adolescents usually lack balanced diet. They often go out with their friends, and consume many different kinds of unhealthy foods including chips, candies, and soft drinks. Adolescents keep on consuming unhealthy food, especially when they are away from their homes and they are in parties or with their friends (Chan 6).
Adolescents may also show eating disorders in the form of overeating or undereating, and one of the most important reasons behind those eating disorders includes the disturbed self-concept. Adolescents have an important relationship with parents or other family members, and positive communication can help in developing positive self-concept. On the other hand, constant teasing by family members is a sign of negative communication and it can result in low self-image. This leads to dissatisfaction with the body, thereby resulting in overeating or undereating (De Beer 8). Moreover, media as well as advertising images of a “perfect” body can also result in eating disorders (Victoria State Government, betterhealth.vic.gov.au).
II. External patterns behind adolescent feeding habits
A. Peer Influences on adolescent food consumption. Peers and friends have an important role in the consumption of healthy or unhealthy food by adolescents. Usually, peer pressure causes the pubescents to fit in their friendship circles. Friends tend to influence the kinds of food they eat and in most cases; it is unhealthy (Salvy 369). In adolescence, youngsters have an increased level of independence in different aspects of life including the food choices. They start comparing themselves to their friends, and start making choices according to the friendship circle. This peer influence can also result in obesity, if a friend of some adolescent is an obese person (Fortin, and Yazbeck n.p.). Sometimes, modern food fads of peers, where adolescents want to be identified with the latest junk like Cronuts, also result in disturbed eating.
B. Social influences on adolescent food consumption. Parents have most important influence in determining what their children eat at home. They are involved in the early social interactions, thereby affecting the heating habits. Moreover, they not only influence the adolescents genetically but also affect their eating habits environmentally. Some parents are less concerned about a healthy diet hence their children eat poorly. Whereas, some ensure that their kids have healthy meals (Savage, Fisher, and Birch n.p.).
Parents can not only control their children’s food consumption but can also control other factors such as advertising that can disturb the healthy eating. In a study, researchers worked on two different types of parental communication, i.e. advertising mediation and consumer communication, and found that both types of communication styles can reduce the impact of advertising on the diets of their children. Therefore, parents can reduce the impact of advertising by critical as well as open discussion about advertising and by controlling and rule-making about consumption of food (Buijzen 116).
Along with parents, healthcare providers can also help in communicating appropriate eating habits to adolescents. They can tell the adolescents more explicitly about good food and its consumption. Moreover, sometimes, adolescents are able to share their opinions and thoughts more openly with their healthcare providers. It has also been reported that sometimes adolescents, especially women, are unaware of government recommendations, which are evidence-based, about healthy food. Health care providers help in communicating government guidelines. However, in the development of good communication, it is important to consider that adolescent-centered communication is more affective (Gàlvez n.p.).
Nutrition education also has an important influence on eating habits. This education not only helps adolescents in selecting proper foods for them, but also helps their peers to go for healthy foods, thereby enhancing the overall positive image of healthy eating. Sometimes, adolescents are unaware of the problem of unhealthy food and they have no intention to change their habits. Education can tell them to take action and start taking healthy food, and it is only through continuous education and proper communication that adolescents keep on using the healthy food in spite of the availability of junk foods (Stang, and Mary, epi.umn.edu).
Environmental factors also play an important role in adolescent food consumption. An environment could make the accessibility of unhealthy food easy resulting in unhealthy eating habits. Environmental factors may include physical environments in which the availability of healthy foods is considered in different contexts of the life of adolescents, and social environments in which family and home environment are considered (Larson, and Mary 57). On a larger scale, culture can also influence the eating habits as, for example, some cultures discourage the eating of some kinds of foods such as beef or pork. An environment and culture can also make the behavior of adolescents more complex, thereby requiring more communication skills by parents and health care providers.
III. Internal patterns behind adolescent eating habits.
The level of activity is found to have an important influence in adolescent food consumption. Usually, active adolescents, especially in sports, tend to eat healthy food that can help in giving them appropriate energy, thereby fueling their activities. On the other hand, adolescents, who are quite inactive, tend to feed more on junk as they do not require so much energy.
Personal issues such as sensitivity and stress levels can also influence the food consumption. Some adolescents, who are sensitive about what they eat, tend to eat less. In some cases, adolescents may also experience higher levels of stress, thereby causing them to eat too more (McLaughlin, healthyeating.sfgate.com).
IV. Effects of adolescent feeding habits, which include positive and negative impacts
A. Positive Effects from good feeding habits. Good feeding habits have many positive impacts on the life. It helps in proper brain functioning and allows better concentration and memory capacity. Research shows that eating breakfast can help in positively affecting the learning process of children and adolescents. Moreover, habitual breakfast eating can improve academic performance of students. It has also been reported that the quality of habitual breakfast with more variety of foods and proper energy correlates positively with school performance. Good eating habits, especially breakfast eating, also lead to healthy physical growth and proper body mass index (BMI), which would not result in obesity (Adolphus, Clare, and Dye 425).
B. Negative Effects. Unhealthy eating habits can result in weight gain that leads to obesity, especially if unhealthy overeating is prolonged. Adolescence is considered as a critical period for the development of obesity and obesity-related illnesses. Due to obesity and over-weight body, adolescents may also face rejection, discrimination, and low self-esteem, thereby affecting the social experiences, social relationships, future aspirations, and psychological well-being. It has been reported that increased intake of sodium, saturated fat, total fat, and soft drinks, with relatively decreased intake of vegetables, fruits, calcium-containing foods, and fiber can increase the chances of cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, and cancer (Maternal and Child Health Bureau, mchb.hrsa.gov).
Unhealthy eating habits can also result in reduced brain functioning, and poor memory capacity along with lack of proper concentration (McLaughlin, healthyeating.sfgate.com). Improper nutrition and food consumption may result in disturbed hormonal, cognitive and emotional changes. These disturbances in the body can also lead to certain weight related disorders such as bulimia nervosa, anorexia nervosa, anorexia/bulimic behaviors, binge eating disorders, and adverse dieting behaviors (Maternal and Child Health Bureau, mchb.hrsa.gov).
V. Conclusion and Future Directions
Healthy eating habits are among the most important aspects of a healthy life, and in adolescents, which is the most critical period of development, healthy foods can cause long lasting impacts on the life of a person. Adolescents should eat healthy food because of the positive effects that come with it. However, it is important to convey information to the adolescents about the beneficial effects of good food and healthy eating habits. This information can be conveyed only through good communication between the adolescents and health care providers. Moreover, parents and the society, at large, should play a great role in ensuring that adolescents consume healthy foods for better growth. With the help of good communication, parents and health care providers get more ability to listen and understand the problems or issues of adolescents, and help them in achieving a goal of healthy eating. Moreover, good communication can also help adolescents in remembering and adhering to the recommendations about good eating habits as it increases their participation and activation during meetings with family members and/or health care providers.
The role of communication in improving the eating habits of adolescents require more qualitative and quantitative studies, especially in exploring the role of environmental factors on the behavior of adolescents, thereby making it more complicated for better communication. Moreover, larger studies with more number of participants can help in further exploring the beneficial effects of communication, so that the results could be generalizable to a larger population. Studies are also required in finding the differences between the communication abilities of different genders. This type of study could help in improving the communication skills of health care providers.
Works Cited
Adolphus, Katie, Clare L Lawton, and Louise Dye. "The Effects of Breakfast on Behaviour and Academic Performance in Children and Adolescents." Frontiers in human neuroscience 7 (2013). Print.
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Chan, Kara, et al. "Communicating Healthy Eating to Adolescents." Journal of Consumer Marketing 26.1 (2009): 6-14. Print.
De Beer, Nadine Deboreh. "A Psycho-Educational Programme for Adolescents with Unhealthy Eating Habits." 2009. Print.
Fortin, Bernard, and Myra Yazbeck. "Peer Effects, Fast Food Consumption and Adolescent Weight Gain." Journal of health economics 42 (2015): 125-38. Print.
Gàlvez, Patricia, et al. "Communicating About Eating Behaviors. A Qualitative Study of Chilean Women and Their Health-Care Providers." International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being 10 (2015). Print.
Larson, Nicole, and Mary Story. "A Review of Environmental Influences on Food Choices." Annals of Behavioral Medicine 38.1 (2009): 56-73. Print.
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McLaughlin, A. "Short Term Effects of Bad Eating Habits". SFGATE, 2016. Web. 04 Apr. 2016 < http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/short-term-effects-bad-eating-habits-2579.html>.
Salvy, Sarah-Jeanne, et al. "Influence of Peers and Friends on Children's and Adolescents' Eating and Activity Behaviors." Physiology & behavior 106.3 (2012): 369-78. Print.
Savage, Jennifer S, Jennifer Orlet Fisher, and Leann L Birch. "Parental Influence on Eating Behavior: Conception to Adolescence." The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 35.1 (2007): 22-34. Print.
Stang, J., and Mary Story. “Nutrition Education and Counselling”. University of Minnesota, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016 <http://www.epi.umn.edu/let/pubs/img/adol_ch5.pdf>.
Victoria State Government. “Eating disorders – adolescents”. Better Health Channel. Department of Health & Human Services, State Government of Victoria, Australia. 2014. Web. 04 Apr. 2016 <https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/eating-disorders-adolescents>.
