Helping Your Teenager Stay Healthy

Your Teenager's Health Series : Helping Your Teenager Stay Healthy

The habits your teens are picking up right now may be the cause of their death when they are older. Acquiring habits in the teen years may cause cancer, heart disease, and stroke, as they grow older.

The best way to help your teenager make good choices is to talk to them. If you are open and honest in discussing the dangers of smoking, drinking, and drug abuse, you will help them to withstand the peer pressure they face every day. Keep your lines of communication open. Take the time to talk to them when they signal they want to. You can start the topic in a gentle way, with no condemnation or accusations and receive good results.

Advise them to stay away from tobacco products. Give them the information on second hand smoke. Let them know that using any tobacco product is dangerous, even the use of smokeless tobacco. They are getting information about smoking from TV ads, but they need the reinforcement of a parent to make it real.

Make sure your teenager is getting regular exercise. Take part in their sports events if they are involved in school sports. Encourage them to ride their bike to go to a friend’s house. Make physical activity a regular part of your family time; bike riding, hiking, or even walking the dog will be an encouragement to keep them active.

Be sure they are eating a healthy diet at least at home. Provide nutritional snacks so they won’t overload on sweets, fats, and sodium. It’s much easier for them to keep a healthy eating lifestyle if it begins when they are still in their teens or even younger. You can’t always keep them from getting fast food while they are out, but if they are home, you can encourage them to eat fresh fruits and vegetables and low-fat snacks. Yes, teenagers and even children can develop high blood cholesterol levels.

Advise them to always wear their seat belts in the car. In most states, it is a law that is beginning to be strictly enforced. There have been many cases on record of a life being saved by a seat belt. Strictly, enforce wearing seat belts by the driver and all passengers in their car. Set the example; wear yours every time you get in the car as well. Going right with that, is telling them to never drink and drive, or to get into a car with a driver who has been drinking or using drugs.

If your teenager is involved in skateboarding, motorcycling, or bike riding, remind them to always wear protective headgear.

Tell them to never swim alone, and the dangers of diving into shallow water.

If they are sexually active, be sure they know the importance of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases and avoiding pregnancy. Remember to tell them the “safest” sex is no sex.

Watch for unusual patterns in your teen. If they have always been a good student and suddenly their grades are slipping, ask questions. If they are gaining or losing a lot of weight, ask questions. If they are unusually quiet or look sad or depressed, talk to them.

As a parent or guardian, be sure they have regular visits to a doctor. A trained professional can discover if your teen is the right weight, height, and if they have normal blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Their doctor can also make sure that their vaccinations are up-to-date. These are important for teens as well to reduce the risk of getting diseases such as hepatitis, tetanus, and mumps.

Some interesting facts about our teenagers are:

Teen boys don’t use seat belts as often as young women

Teen boys are more likely to get into a violent situation

They are more likely to use smokeless tobacco products, use drugs, smoke, drink, or have multiple sexual partners.
Young women have a couple of special risks such as; they try to lose weight in an unhealthy way like bulimia or anorexia. They are more likely to try to commit suicide.

The top killers of teenagers today are car accidents, homicide, suicide, and deaths related to illegal drug or alcohol use.

The teen years are hard both on them and on you as parents. By keeping communication open and being sensitive to their moods, you can help them to stay healthy.