Emerging Adulthood
Obesity in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
Name
Institution
Date
Obesity in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
The past three decades in the world have seen the number of young people with obesity increase by nearly a triple. This is according to reports from the National Center for Health Statistics (Eisenberg, Radunovich, & Brennan, 2013). Obesity is rarely caused by genetic or hormonal defects, and the main reason for the high occurrence of obesity, therefore, is the high intake of calories than an individual can burn. As much as the major reasons for the overall increase in the number of overweight and obese adolescents is not known, the most common theory is that the society has become more successful. This implies that adolescents …show more content…
can get all the high-calorie that they like as these are produced and consumed at high rates; thus they are even available. In addition, adolescents lead inactive lifestyles nowadays as compared to the past. This may be attributed to the contribution of technology in the world today. Instead of participating in active exercises, sports and games, adolescents prefer to sit indoors, watching television, surfing the internet or playing video games. This implies that with continued advancement in technology, adolescents sit more and exercise less while consuming high-calorie foods and gaining more and more weight.
The effects of childhood or adolescent obesity are serious and may have adverse effects in the lives of the individuals when they grow into adults. The early development of overweight in the life of an individual is most likely to end up in obesity in adulthood. This condition has adverse effects on the health of the individual as it causes diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and other numerous medical problems. Obesity during such early stages of life, including adolescence has been associated with high rates of sickness and even deaths in adulthood. This means that overweight adolescents may be putting their selves at a risk of prolonged health risks in life. This situation becomes worse when they grow into adults. Moreover, if adolescence obesity is not treated and controlled early enough, it may also be carried into adulthood making it even harder to treat. Adult cases of obesity or overweight are harder to treat successfully, and it may take a long time, and lots of time and work for it to be treated completely. Still, even if treated in adulthood, there is still the likelihood of the occurrence of diseases such as stroke, high blood pressure diabetes, and heart problems.
Obesity rates among adolescents are influenced by different aspects of their lives. However, these aspects are not limited to a certain ethnic group or level of education and it may affect all adolescents equally. These include environmental influences, family conflicts and school pressures. However, the community, parents and even the adolescents themselves can make a difference in the prevention of obesity and solving the problems of overweight among these individuals. Schools, for example, have intensive and more continuous contact with adolescents as compared to any other institution. Thus, they have the capacity to make an impact in the lives of adolescents by promoting healthy physical activities and educating them on the importance of nutrition and healthy eating. Schools need to participate because the impacts of overweight on adolescents in school is clearly visible as compared to their healthy counterparts as seen in their impaired school functioning and performance. Thus, they can get teachings and guidance in school on how to manage their conditions best, and healthy ways of losing weight, most adolescents resort to unhealthy dieting practices which end up in hunger thus causing inadequate nutritional status and interferes with their cognitive functioning and lower academic achievements.
Parents also play a key role in the development and growth patterns of their children, as well as, the creation of a wealthy environment for their development. They shape the healthy growth of their children by deciding the type, quality and quantity of foods they give their children. They also make important decisions regarding the feeding patterns of their children and the amount of food they eat each time they feed, as well as, their exercising patterns. However, the increase in the number of dial-earner families lately has changed most of the family systems and the way families operate. In general, parents spend less and less time with their children, provide less nutritious food and do not even inspect how their children exercise. Thus, more and more adolescents end up eating junk or unhealthy foods, and exercise less because their parents are hardly ever present to monitor and control them.
The lifestyles, eating and exercising patterns of most adolescents is dependent on what their parents do or the examples they set. In fact, it is not uncommon for obese adolescents to run or exercise in families where parents observe healthy living routines. According to research, adolescents with either one or both obese parents are more likely to become obese in their adulthood (Eisenberg, Radunovich, & Brennan, 2013). However, genetics may also play a part in causing obesity, thus it is vital for parents to take control early enough and monitor the eating and exercising patterns of their children especially if it is a common feature in the family. Parents can se routines in their families by ensuring that they all eat dinner together as a way of promoting healthful eating habits among the adolescents. This is one way that then can use to ensure they increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains among the adolescents. In addition, they will also decrease their intake of high-calorie processed foods, with high fat and sugar content, as well as, unhealthy soft drinks.
The society or community also has a key role in the shaping of the lives of adolescents and teaching them important lessons about obesity. This is the first social group that adolescents interact with apart from their immediate families, and it also contributes to the growth and development of the adolescents. There are many communities which have taken active steps towards dealing and responding to the problem of obesity in the society. Some examples of the steps taken by such communities include the creation of leisure and recreational centers, the creation of more green spaces, and changing town or neighborhood planning to encourage more walking. In other communities, there are new policies that have been introduced to control the number of fast-food restaurants or vending machines in the neighborhoods, and in areas where adolescents are most likely to gather, for example, schools and recreational facilities. In places whet the society does not take such initiatives, parents may be forced to limit the movements of their children because of the increasing cases of pedestrian death and injuries, as well as, kidnappings because they are more concerned about the security of their children as compared to healthy eating patterns.
Part of the reasons of the high prevalence of obesity among adolescents is the rapid and dramatic changes in the society over the last two to three decades. The eating behaviors and physical activities among the individual are influenced by the physical and social contexts of their surrounding environments. For instance, urbanization has been seen to promote obesity due to the frequent consumption of high-calorie foods in fast food restaurants and the intake of sweetened soft drinks or alcoholic drinks instead of natural healthy juices. Such behaviors are only cultivated in areas where there is abundant and affordable high-calorie food, which is easy to consume with minimal time for preparation, as in urban cities or towns. Sedentary activities, for example, watching television and playing video games or spending hours on the internet, are also a contributory factor promoted by the environment or social surroundings. This is more likely to happen in areas where adolescents do not have safe places to hang out and exercise in apart from their home. In such situations, they will be forced to stay indoors and participate in indoor recreational or leisure activities which are not as interactive and physical as compared to outdoor activities.
As obese adolescents affected by the factors mentioned above grow into adults, they experience a stage of personality plasticity as compared to the earlier levels of their lives. The trends in their personality changes may start kicking in their early twenties, and increase with an increase in responsibility, agency, caution, conscientiousness, social dominance and self-constraint. The changes in personality among adolescents growing into adulthood are a reflection of the increase in their preparedness for intimate relationships. However, if such individuals are not comfortable with their selves, they may grow into adults with low self-esteem and low self-confidence. Personality trends in the changing patterns of growth from adolescence to adulthood also reflect an increase in warmth and emotional stability. If individuals lack these traits as a result of self-resentment due to their physical appearance, they main fail to share the complex feelings they develop as they grow into adults. This will also weaken their abilities to resolve conflicts, show greater personal understanding and become more reflective in life.
In addition, personality changes from adolescence into adulthood also reflect the adaptation to new roles and responsibilities among the individuals.
This is due to an increase in social vitality during adolescents, which translates to a decrease in vitality during adulthood. Such decrease in vitality and sociability reflects the natural trend for individuals to concentrate on their inwards beings and focus on commitments in their lives rather than a huge following of friends. However, this situation may be dire among obese individuals who did not get to enjoy vitality and sociability in their adolescence stage. Such individuals may grow into introverts or antisocial adults, not because they do not like people or being popular but because they feel withdrawn from the rest of the society. The emerging adulthood developmental stage is mostly associated with the psychosocial development of individuals, and it is measured mostly through the identity and ego of an individual. The development of ego in an emerging adult is related directly to self-sufficiency. Individuals with high levels of ego in their early adulthood report less difficulty with moving away from home and transitioning into their new lives. However, individuals with low ego at their early adulthood have a tough time transitioning into their new lives as adults. Such individuals have a tough time establishing intimate relationships and development interpersonal understanding. In most cases, obese emerging adults suffer from the case of ego due to low self esteem and they have a tough time transitioning from adolescents to
adults.
Apart from their personality changes, emerging adults may also face changes with their physical health statuses. However, for healthy emerging adults this is the stage with the lowest cases of serious, life-threatening diseases, such as heart diseases and cancer. Naturally, this stage is protective against all the serious diseases. However, their behaviors and health practices may account for the highest causes of deaths in the lives of emerging adults. These include unhealthy eating practices and lack of exercises which may lead to the emergence of adult-era risk factors. The serious health risks involved in this case include tobacco use, alcohol consumption and obesity. According to research, approximately three-quarters of emerging adults are obese or overweight (Levesque, 2006). Mild obesity among adults in their early 20s is a predictor of future obesity probably in their 30s. This condition is also an elevator of the risk of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases high cholesterol levels and some forms of cancer in their later lives. This may be made worse by some unhealthy practices common among emerging adults, including alcohol consumption and smoking. Obese individuals are at a higher risk of participating in these unhealthy behaviors because of their psychological and psychosocial conditions.
References
Eisenberg, J., Radunovich, H. L., & Brennan, M. A. (2013). Understanding Youth and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity: Resources for Families and Communities. University of Florida IFAS Extension, 1.
Levesque, R. J. (2006). Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Volume 1. New York : Springer .
Name
Institution
Date
Obesity in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood
The past three decades in the world have seen the number of young people with obesity increase by nearly a triple. This is according to reports from the National Center for Health Statistics (Eisenberg, Radunovich, & Brennan, 2013). Obesity is rarely caused by genetic or hormonal defects, and the main reason for the high occurrence of obesity, therefore, is the high intake of calories than an individual can burn. As much as the major reasons for the overall increase in the number of overweight and obese adolescents is not known, the most common theory is that the society has become more successful. This implies that adolescents …show more content…
can get all the high-calorie that they like as these are produced and consumed at high rates; thus they are even available. In addition, adolescents lead inactive lifestyles nowadays as compared to the past. This may be attributed to the contribution of technology in the world today. Instead of participating in active exercises, sports and games, adolescents prefer to sit indoors, watching television, surfing the internet or playing video games. This implies that with continued advancement in technology, adolescents sit more and exercise less while consuming high-calorie foods and gaining more and more weight.
The effects of childhood or adolescent obesity are serious and may have adverse effects in the lives of the individuals when they grow into adults. The early development of overweight in the life of an individual is most likely to end up in obesity in adulthood. This condition has adverse effects on the health of the individual as it causes diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and other numerous medical problems. Obesity during such early stages of life, including adolescence has been associated with high rates of sickness and even deaths in adulthood. This means that overweight adolescents may be putting their selves at a risk of prolonged health risks in life. This situation becomes worse when they grow into adults. Moreover, if adolescence obesity is not treated and controlled early enough, it may also be carried into adulthood making it even harder to treat. Adult cases of obesity or overweight are harder to treat successfully, and it may take a long time, and lots of time and work for it to be treated completely. Still, even if treated in adulthood, there is still the likelihood of the occurrence of diseases such as stroke, high blood pressure diabetes, and heart problems.
Obesity rates among adolescents are influenced by different aspects of their lives. However, these aspects are not limited to a certain ethnic group or level of education and it may affect all adolescents equally. These include environmental influences, family conflicts and school pressures. However, the community, parents and even the adolescents themselves can make a difference in the prevention of obesity and solving the problems of overweight among these individuals. Schools, for example, have intensive and more continuous contact with adolescents as compared to any other institution. Thus, they have the capacity to make an impact in the lives of adolescents by promoting healthy physical activities and educating them on the importance of nutrition and healthy eating. Schools need to participate because the impacts of overweight on adolescents in school is clearly visible as compared to their healthy counterparts as seen in their impaired school functioning and performance. Thus, they can get teachings and guidance in school on how to manage their conditions best, and healthy ways of losing weight, most adolescents resort to unhealthy dieting practices which end up in hunger thus causing inadequate nutritional status and interferes with their cognitive functioning and lower academic achievements.
Parents also play a key role in the development and growth patterns of their children, as well as, the creation of a wealthy environment for their development. They shape the healthy growth of their children by deciding the type, quality and quantity of foods they give their children. They also make important decisions regarding the feeding patterns of their children and the amount of food they eat each time they feed, as well as, their exercising patterns. However, the increase in the number of dial-earner families lately has changed most of the family systems and the way families operate. In general, parents spend less and less time with their children, provide less nutritious food and do not even inspect how their children exercise. Thus, more and more adolescents end up eating junk or unhealthy foods, and exercise less because their parents are hardly ever present to monitor and control them.
The lifestyles, eating and exercising patterns of most adolescents is dependent on what their parents do or the examples they set. In fact, it is not uncommon for obese adolescents to run or exercise in families where parents observe healthy living routines. According to research, adolescents with either one or both obese parents are more likely to become obese in their adulthood (Eisenberg, Radunovich, & Brennan, 2013). However, genetics may also play a part in causing obesity, thus it is vital for parents to take control early enough and monitor the eating and exercising patterns of their children especially if it is a common feature in the family. Parents can se routines in their families by ensuring that they all eat dinner together as a way of promoting healthful eating habits among the adolescents. This is one way that then can use to ensure they increase the consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grains among the adolescents. In addition, they will also decrease their intake of high-calorie processed foods, with high fat and sugar content, as well as, unhealthy soft drinks.
The society or community also has a key role in the shaping of the lives of adolescents and teaching them important lessons about obesity. This is the first social group that adolescents interact with apart from their immediate families, and it also contributes to the growth and development of the adolescents. There are many communities which have taken active steps towards dealing and responding to the problem of obesity in the society. Some examples of the steps taken by such communities include the creation of leisure and recreational centers, the creation of more green spaces, and changing town or neighborhood planning to encourage more walking. In other communities, there are new policies that have been introduced to control the number of fast-food restaurants or vending machines in the neighborhoods, and in areas where adolescents are most likely to gather, for example, schools and recreational facilities. In places whet the society does not take such initiatives, parents may be forced to limit the movements of their children because of the increasing cases of pedestrian death and injuries, as well as, kidnappings because they are more concerned about the security of their children as compared to healthy eating patterns.
Part of the reasons of the high prevalence of obesity among adolescents is the rapid and dramatic changes in the society over the last two to three decades. The eating behaviors and physical activities among the individual are influenced by the physical and social contexts of their surrounding environments. For instance, urbanization has been seen to promote obesity due to the frequent consumption of high-calorie foods in fast food restaurants and the intake of sweetened soft drinks or alcoholic drinks instead of natural healthy juices. Such behaviors are only cultivated in areas where there is abundant and affordable high-calorie food, which is easy to consume with minimal time for preparation, as in urban cities or towns. Sedentary activities, for example, watching television and playing video games or spending hours on the internet, are also a contributory factor promoted by the environment or social surroundings. This is more likely to happen in areas where adolescents do not have safe places to hang out and exercise in apart from their home. In such situations, they will be forced to stay indoors and participate in indoor recreational or leisure activities which are not as interactive and physical as compared to outdoor activities.
As obese adolescents affected by the factors mentioned above grow into adults, they experience a stage of personality plasticity as compared to the earlier levels of their lives. The trends in their personality changes may start kicking in their early twenties, and increase with an increase in responsibility, agency, caution, conscientiousness, social dominance and self-constraint. The changes in personality among adolescents growing into adulthood are a reflection of the increase in their preparedness for intimate relationships. However, if such individuals are not comfortable with their selves, they may grow into adults with low self-esteem and low self-confidence. Personality trends in the changing patterns of growth from adolescence to adulthood also reflect an increase in warmth and emotional stability. If individuals lack these traits as a result of self-resentment due to their physical appearance, they main fail to share the complex feelings they develop as they grow into adults. This will also weaken their abilities to resolve conflicts, show greater personal understanding and become more reflective in life.
In addition, personality changes from adolescence into adulthood also reflect the adaptation to new roles and responsibilities among the individuals.
This is due to an increase in social vitality during adolescents, which translates to a decrease in vitality during adulthood. Such decrease in vitality and sociability reflects the natural trend for individuals to concentrate on their inwards beings and focus on commitments in their lives rather than a huge following of friends. However, this situation may be dire among obese individuals who did not get to enjoy vitality and sociability in their adolescence stage. Such individuals may grow into introverts or antisocial adults, not because they do not like people or being popular but because they feel withdrawn from the rest of the society. The emerging adulthood developmental stage is mostly associated with the psychosocial development of individuals, and it is measured mostly through the identity and ego of an individual. The development of ego in an emerging adult is related directly to self-sufficiency. Individuals with high levels of ego in their early adulthood report less difficulty with moving away from home and transitioning into their new lives. However, individuals with low ego at their early adulthood have a tough time transitioning into their new lives as adults. Such individuals have a tough time establishing intimate relationships and development interpersonal understanding. In most cases, obese emerging adults suffer from the case of ego due to low self esteem and they have a tough time transitioning from adolescents to
adults.
Apart from their personality changes, emerging adults may also face changes with their physical health statuses. However, for healthy emerging adults this is the stage with the lowest cases of serious, life-threatening diseases, such as heart diseases and cancer. Naturally, this stage is protective against all the serious diseases. However, their behaviors and health practices may account for the highest causes of deaths in the lives of emerging adults. These include unhealthy eating practices and lack of exercises which may lead to the emergence of adult-era risk factors. The serious health risks involved in this case include tobacco use, alcohol consumption and obesity. According to research, approximately three-quarters of emerging adults are obese or overweight (Levesque, 2006). Mild obesity among adults in their early 20s is a predictor of future obesity probably in their 30s. This condition is also an elevator of the risk of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases high cholesterol levels and some forms of cancer in their later lives. This may be made worse by some unhealthy practices common among emerging adults, including alcohol consumption and smoking. Obese individuals are at a higher risk of participating in these unhealthy behaviors because of their psychological and psychosocial conditions.
References
Eisenberg, J., Radunovich, H. L., & Brennan, M. A. (2013). Understanding Youth and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity: Resources for Families and Communities. University of Florida IFAS Extension, 1.
Levesque, R. J. (2006). Encyclopedia of Adolescence, Volume 1. New York : Springer .