Causes if Obesity in Teens

Obesity in teens is accounted when these young people have over 10% extra pounds than the recommended or standard weight as per the height. Such obesity occurs only when the overall energy ingestion exceeds the total energy spent, which is done at the time of physical exercise. over 25% school going teens are obese of which 1/4th are highly vulnerable to the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and frighteningly even premature death. Above all, the worst part of the reality is that teenagers between 10 to 13 ages are 80% prone to be obese adults. After reading these frightening facts, it becomes necessary to control teen obesity. The first step in this direction is to identify the possible causes of obesity in teens.

The first and most important cause is poor eating habits. These habits normally develop because of an imbalance diet, over cooking food, or addiction with the outside food. Further, even if none of the parents has time to cook food at home, the teen has no option but to switch to the junk food. Junk food or fast food is one of those poor eating habits, which is held responsible for fat accumulation in a majority of teens worldwide. It is a common tendency of teens to love such food, but it is not at all healthy. Those high-fat dressings, cheese, butter, non-vegetarian items are all fatty items.

Stress is also one of the main causes of obesity in teens. How? By triggering overeating. The recent time is such that teenagers have to face a lot of peer pressure at school. Further, events such as divorce, abuse, or a close one’s death can add to the fire. In order to reduce the stress, several teens get inclined to overeating. The worst effect of stress is depression. In fact, it is a vicious circle: stress – obesity – depression – more stress. It is found that a big percentage of obese teens are clinically depressed.

The final killer cause is lack of exercise. This needs a special mention in our list of causes of obesity in teens. In this era of technology, where everything needs to be done at a fast speed, all hand works are replaced by machines. Further, the desk-bound life such as sitting in front of computers and video games deprive the teens to keep their body active. With little or no exercise done, the fats are surely going to get accumulated leading to obesity. Walking is taken up by a car, while washing clothes is taken by the washing machine. Do you know our ancestors hardly faced any problems of diseases related to obesity? Why? This is because they used to do all the chores with their hands and legs, not with the machines!