Health and diet are interrelated with each other that should be kept in balance for healthy and happy life. Adolescent is the group of age where different things, fascinate other than routine life essentials.The most of the adolescents used to spend their time away from home due to which they prefer to consume fast foods and so forth. This seems convenient to them irrespective of fast foods containing fats and high calories. This particular behavior usually caught them into drug abuse as well as tobacco as they prefer to enjoy their life. Excessive usage of drugs and tobacco causes many health problems for them, and they face the nutritional issue. The major nutritional problems associated with the drug abuse and tobacco use are as follows:
- Multiple vitamin deficiencies-B complex
- Loss of Weight,
- Fatty lever,
- Obesity,
- Gastritis ,
- Liver failure,
- Disorder of the digestive track.
The drug abuse has numerous harmful health affects. Health risks increase for heart diseases, mental illness, and cancer and so forth that may even lead to death. The drug use may decrease the levels of the hormone like testosterone in a man's body ("Health Concerns Of Adolescents," p 171).
In adolescents, nutrient needs are usually higher, mainly micronutrients, systems for detoxification of nutrients are not complete. Drug usage and the tobacco make them weaker mentally as well as physically, and their behavior ultimately changes with the time. The eating habit is disturbed as well as their metabolism functions decrease besides the behavior or their family and parents. Drug users face the rigid behavior by the society, and this thing makes them more attracted towards the use of tobacco/drugs. At the very age of adolescence, it becomes necessary for the parents/caretakers to have a close eye on the activities of young ones as good care can only bring them back to life.
Considering about another deficiency that is prominent these days, is a deficiency of Vitamin B12 and iron in older adults. Vitamin B12 and iron are naturally present in many foods and are available as a dietary supplement as well as prescription medication (Herbert, p 34). In addition, Vitamin– B12 is essential for the formation of red blood cells, neurological functions, and DNA synthesis. Vitamin B12 is soluble in water providing protein enrich food that is released by the activity of gastric protease and hydrochloric acid in the stomach (‘Food and Nutrition Board’).The health care providers revealed that Vitamin B-12 deficiency is more common among older adults compared to other age groups.
Iron deficiency is another factor of that creates health issues among older adults. The foremost reasons for iron deficiency in this particular age group are nutritional deficiencies, blood loss, medications, poor absorptions and cancer therapies (Iron-out-of-Balance in the Elderly). Vitamin B12 and iron in particular are very important that prevent from bone fractures especially hip fracture. One of the major causes that older adults become deficient in B 12 and iron is lack of meat and other sources of protein in their diet. Vitamin B12 and iron are primarily found in red meat and some vegetables. In older age, people tend to have difficulties in digesting meat, and many of old people start to dislike meat and particular vegetable. That trend makes older people prone to develop anemia, as well as other health issues. This is of significant important for older adults to take a whole food having multi vitamin supplement with meals.
Older adults also tend to become deficient in B12 because with growing age absorbing nutrient becomes hard. Many doctors try to overcome the problem by prescribing B 12. Other factors causing the deficiency of B 12 and iron in older adults are kidney disease, hemodialysis, gastrointestinal bleeding, and loss of blood, stomach ulcers, colon polyps, chromes disease and many others.
Foods enriched with vitamin B12 also contain high iron contents. So, if one doesn't consume enough of these foods, that include all types of meat, one can go through anemia. In both vitamin B12 and iron-deficiency anemia, preventing from disorder is better than treating it. However, excessive use or overdosing of iron or vitamin B12 may be dangerous.
Conclusively drugs abuse and health issues are prevailing among adolescents as well as deficiency of Vitamin B12 and iron affecting older age people
Work Cited
Food and Nutrition Board” Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, –Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, –Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline, Institute of Medicine.Web.18 May 2014< http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK114302/
"Health Concerns Of Adolescents". Baylor University’s Community Mentoring for Adolescent Development. Web. 17 May 2014. <http://nmp.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_433.pdf>.
Herbert, Vitamin B 12 in Present Knowledge, in Nutrition. 17. 1995. 34. Print.
“Iron-out-of-Balance in the Elderly." Iron Disorders Institute: N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2014 <http://www.irondisorders.org/elderly>.
