Birth Weight Can Predict Future Health
Boys born small develop poor health later in life, say scientists. But no such problem was seen in low birth weight girls. When they tested child’s response to stress, problem in vascular resistance was observed. Vascular resistance is a property of blood vessels which makes it harder for the blood to be pumped through. This can lead to blood pressure problems in adulthood. After going through public speaking and mental arithmetic test designed to make them nervous, and increase heart-rate, boys who born smaller were more likely to have higher vascular resistance than those born bigger.
Reason For Teenage Obesity
Dr. Catherine Berkey and colleagues from Harvard Medical School, Growing Up Today Study (GUTS), surveyed more than 5000 girls, 14 - 21 years from all 50 states, and their weekly habits were recorded. The researchers found that more Internet time, more alcohol consumption, and less sleep resulted in extra weight gain. Girls who consumed 2 or more alcoholic beverages a week or slept less than 6 hours at night gained more weight. Girls who use Internet in addition to alcohol and sleep gain 4 extra pounds a year. Researchers are encouraging adolescent girls to replace recreational Internet time with more sleep, and avoid alcoholic beverage consumption to lose their weight.
Peer Pressure To Be Slim
Teenage girls identify themselves according to the peer groups that they belong to. A study done in University of Miami proved that girls’ own definition of normal body weight and their perception of what others consider normal body weight depend on the peer group that they are in.
Dangerous weight control behaviours such as excessive dieting and can lead to serious long-term health implications. Teen girls identifying with athletic peers are less concerned about their weight while girls identifying with non-conformist peers are more concerned about their weight and appearance. Latter group tends to practice dangerous weight losing techniques.
