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6: Health and Nutrition

DOI:

10.1891/9780826125071.0006

Abstract

This chapter describes the overall health, sleep and diet and nutrition. The importance of focusing on health promotion during adolescence is apparent when considering that close to two-thirds of premature deaths in adulthood can be attributed to unhealthy lifestyle choices made in the adolescent years. The approach adolescents take to their overall physical health is driven by competing cognitive forces producing behaviors that sometimes seem contradictory. Boys tend to exercise more often than girls, and girls are more likely to engage in healthy eating habits in comparison to boys. The adolescent years are an opportunity to develop healthy eating patterns that can carry into adulthood. Family is also important in helping adolescents develop healthy eating patterns. Close to 80% of obese adolescents continue to be obese throughout their adult years, with many of them eventually having to contend with serious health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.