Teenagers are full of mental and physical energy. They are in the state of body building age as their final ossification of bones and process of reaching full development to adulthood is taking place. In addition to that they are in a confused state of mind; as secondary sexual characteristics start showing their presence on their body. At this age they should eat healthy food; but instead many of these teen age children have faulty food habits and these habits continue in their youths also. As per my observation and experience as a Homeopathic Physician I can enumerate these common habits………
They tend to skip breakfast as they can’t manage the morning rush of work, school and college timings.
They drink less water, as unclean, smelly state of toilets of schools and colleges forces them to avoid using them. They can’t manage bladder pressure for such a long time, so they drink less water [commonly seen in girls]. Sometimes they drink less than one liter of water per day.
There are lots of attractions about fast, junk food in electronic and social media which influences food habits of children. At this age they get pocket money which they prefer spending alone by eating bakery stuffs or by going to small food joints. They don’t mind eating alone, which reduces their habit of sharing food, they become more self centered.
Many Teenagers love eating spicy vegetable dishes at home with gravies, lots of potatoes and non veg. food instead of green leafy vegetables and raw salads. Some prefer only rice and dal with pickles. Even if they eat vegetables, the quantity is too small.
They hate eating fruits on their own, they prefer drinking aerated soft drinks with artificial flavors and sweeteners instead of natural drinks like fruit juices, coconut water etc. They hate drinking milk.
i. These and many more faulty food habits are destroying health of teenagers nowadays. They consume more salt, fats, trance fatty acids, plain sugars, artificial flavoring agents, preservatives, less fiber diet, food with less nutrients, lots of harmful products and high calories. This is the future generation of Indians; they need to understand the problems they are going to face in future.
ii. Instead of wasting money on beauty products, they can improve their food habits to give glow to their skin.
iii. Parents need to have a close watch on how their children spend their pocket money.
iv. A little control on mind and recollecting science lessons in school will help this future generation improve their food habits, otherwise what is the use of writing answer to the question in papers.........."What is balanced diet? "