By: Easha Sagar
While evolution is often considered highly beneficial to mankind, we tend to overlook the fact that it has come to us at a price. With advancement in all fields, society has become stricter, and regulations have sprung up for every possible situation. Adolescent females are caught up in this whirlwind of high standards, and are forced to adhere to regimens that make them presentable.
Firstly, teenage girls have to be skinny. Having the perfect body is a dire requirement for them, and if they fail to do so, they are often shunned. For this, they follow diets that are synonymous with starving themselves. Health is always their last priority, and maintaining a good figure, their first. They often eat either a single egg or a few carrot sticks and consider it a meal. What they do not realize is that they are causing immense harm to their bodies in the process. What is the point of having the perfect body, when you are too weak to walk around and flaunt it?
The first step to a healthier lifestyle, is to understand that a perfect body is merely a healthy body, not an anorexic one. The key to maintaining good health is to plan a diet that consists of all the required mineral nutrients. As the adolescent phase is that of growth, the body has an increased need for proteins, iron, and calcium. These are beneficial in skeletal growth, as well as the other bodily functions that accompany puberty. Lean meat, milk, eggs, leafy vegetables and fruits are only the tip of the iceberg. It is also important that teenagers drink enough water to keep the body quenched throughout the day. Water helps cleanse the body of toxic materials and maintains a balance in body fluids.
On the contrary, there are quite a few teenagers who choose to do the exact opposite, and consume way more calories than required. With junk food and soft drinks becoming a trend, it is only realistic that obesity, diabetes, and other such lifestyle diseases will become increasingly common. What teenagers need to realize is that extremities are never good, and excessive eating can have severe effects on the body. In case it becomes a necessity to consume burgers and pizzas often, then exercise should follow.
Exercising is the most important influencing factor of all, and a simple walk every day can do wonders. Playing sports, jogging in the park, yoga, swimming, and dancing are a few ways to burn extra calories and keep the body healthy. However, it is not appropriate to only exercise and not eat, because exercise and nutrition are two sides of the same coin.
As a teenage girl who has gone through the phase of adolescence, I understand that it is difficult to juggle our hectic schedules and healthy habits, but that is a choice for us to make. High school is an important time for us, and it determines the course of our future. It is up to us to decide whether we want to keep studying and neglect a healthy lifestyle, or if we want to balance the both.
The day that we teenage girls realize that eating disorders are not the only way to keep ourselves fit, is the day that society has truly developed.
