Adolescence...

Adolescence is a tough time for anyone... struggling with hormones gone wild, acne, body image problems, general insecurity and constantly having to live up to society's unrealistic expectations...

Weight gain in adolescence is part of the current obesity epidemic.  There is a serious problem with childhood obesity that is very worrying with more than one in every 3 adolescents being overweight or obese.

Until recently, scientists have always believed that when children reach puberty they burn MORE calories because of growth spurts.  However, a 12 year study has unexpectedly found the opposite happens; boys and girls experience a rapid DROP in the number of calories they burn.

They study was comprised of 279 children from Plymouth, UK, and covered a twelve year period between 2000 and 2012.  Burning calories uses a fixed amount of oxygen, the children rested in a sealed canopy that measured their oxygen consumption over a period of time, thus enabling the researchers to calculate their calorie use from the amount of oxygen consumed.

Professor Terry Wilkin of Exeter University and lead on the study, found that 15-year-olds use between 400-500 LESS calories while at rest per day than when they were 10.

That's a whole Big Mac (508 calories) less per day.

The researchers found that adolescents exercise less during puberty therefore adding to the calorie

excess that supposedly underlies obesity.  The drop in exercise levels is particularly noticeable in girls, where activity levels drop by a third between the ages of 7-16.

What we can not overlook is that childhood obesity is a very real problem.

"Child obesity and associated diabetes are both among the greatest health challenges of out time," Professor Wilkin said.

However, the drop in calorie burn can only be a contributing factor to the child obesity crisis.

The real problem is: junk food, fizzy drinks, over consumption of sugar (teenagers consume more than three times the recommended daily amount of sugar) and refined carbohydrates, and too many processed foods.

It is "cool" to go out for a McDonald's with friends and wash a Big Mac down with a can of Monster, but this type of diet is putting out teenagers health in serious danger.

Also many children are having to "fend for themselves" as both parents work.  A take away is a parent's way of knowing their child will eat and won't run the risk of burning themselves or setting the house on fire if they have to cook.

May be it is time to bring back home economics and cooking classes in schools.  I believe we should be teaching our children about REAL food and how to cook from an early age.  A good understanding of a healthy diet from the beginning will mean your child's health will be better for life.

I can help you improve your health.  If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com