Family, peer pressure impact on adolescent diet, exercise habits

Children and adolescent spend about 32 hours a week in school, which is a substantial amount of time. Peer pressure, academic struggles and daily stress can be associated with what the children experience at school. Recently another major connection established between influences of school and life of students is of nutrition, health and food (Wechsler et al, 2000). Major steps are being taken by the government, private non-profits and by parents to change the way we feed our children at school.

In my opinion, however a stronger impact on a child or adolescent’s diet and exercise is of the family. Golan et al (1998) conducted a study to compare the traditional approach of parent being the focus for change in eating health habits compared to when children are the focus of change. Their results showed that parents are the exclusive agents when aiming to control obesity among children. According to their study results the dropout rate is higher among all other methods of weight loss among adolescents, except when parents were the main source of change. Research has shown significantly the role of parents in influencing nutritional behavior of children and adolescents (Scaglioni et al 2008). Parents are the role models for children and create an environment that promotes healthy eating behavior. Scaglioni et al (2008) also highlight that a positive and healthy home environment (happy parents, strong family system and values) can also play a part in developing a positive attitude towards life, food, friends and other things in life.

Past research establishes a strong connection between media indulgence and a child, adolescent’s health in more than one way (Marshall et al 2004). There is statistical evidence of an effect of television viewing on obesity, lack of physical activity and body fatness among children. According to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) American children and adolescents spend on an average 4 hours a day on media and more than the time they spend on any other activity (Barkin et al, 2006). Most of television viewing, media exposure that relates to lack of physical activity is experienced not at school but at home and among family. To limit television time and promote hobbies that promote physical activity would be an effective strategy. Parental rules in limiting screen time and getting engaged in physical activity has shown results in the past and has been suggested as an effective strategy to promote good health among children, adolescents ( Carlson et al, 2010).

Since we established that parents can play a vital role in nutritional and physical health of children, another effective strategy would the education of parents on relevant topics. This strategy could be a nip in the bud for many other related factors like taking lunch from home, highlighting the importance of health as a family and understanding the nutritional needs of the children. Giving nutritional education to parents can promote parental health, support for their kids and positive eating behaviors that will last longer (Crockett et al, 1988).

References

Barkin, S., Ip, E., Richardson, I., Klinepeter, S., Finch, S., & Krcmar, M. (2006). Parental media mediation styles for children aged 2 to 11 years.Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 160(4), 395-401.

Carlson, S. A., Fulton, J. E., Lee, S. M., Foley, J. T., Heitzler, C., & Huhman, M. (2010). Influence of limit-setting and participation in physical activity on youth screen time. Pediatrics, 126(1), e89-e96.

Crockett, S. J., Mullis, R. M., & Perry, C. L. (1988). Parent nutrition education: a conceptual model. Journal of school health, 58(2), 53-57.

Golan, M., Weizman, A., Apter, A., & Fainaru, M. (1998). Parents as the exclusive agents of change in the treatment of childhood obesity. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(6), 1130-1135.

Marshall, S. J., Biddle, S. J., Gorely, T., Cameron, N., & Murdey, I. (2004). Relationships between media use, body fatness and physical activity in children and youth: a meta-analysis. International journal of obesity, 28(10), 1238-1246.

Scaglioni, S., Salvioni, M., & Galimberti, C. (2008). Influence of parental attitudes in the development of children eating behaviour. British Journal of Nutrition, 99(S1), S22-S25.

Wechsler, H., Devereaux, R. S., Davis, M., & Collins, J. (2000). Using the school environment to promote physical activity and healthy eating. Preventive Medicine, 31(2), S121-S137.