“Most parents have the view that their teen is largely influenced by
other people’s perceptions of them,” Chad Jensen, a psychologist at
Brigham Young University and an author of the study, said in the press release.
“Our findings suggest that teens have motivations that are more intrinsic. One implication is that parents should help to focus their teen on healthy behaviors for the sake of being healthy more than for social acceptance.”
In the U.S., around one-third of all adults are obese or overweight. Childhood obesity, meanwhile, has also been ballooning (but has improved recently thanks to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! program) — it has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past three decades.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), 21 percent of American adolescents (aged 12-19) are obese or overweight. Because of this obesity epidemic, parents and teens alike can take note of this study’s findings: Motivate yourself by the desire for good health, and you will go far.
The study, the authors write in the abstract, aimed to provide “an in-depth analysis of behavioral strategies, psychological factors, and social contributors to adolescent weight loss and weight loss maintenance.”
The researchers studied participants in the Adolescent Weight Control Registry (AWCR) — examining the success stories of 40 formerly obese kids.
These teens, on average, lost around 30 pounds and were able to maintain their lower weight for a year.
Sixty percent of these successful teenagers reported that their own health was their first and foremost motive.
Forty-three percent of them, meanwhile, said that being accepted by their friends or peers was a factor, one way or another.
But ultimately, almost all of the teens stated that it was their own decision to lose weight — even though they were helped by parents to create healthier meal and snack plans.
In addition, the time period that the teenagers decided to lose weight — particularly “big change” periods, like the transition of summers or changing schools, helped a lot.
“There were some periods, like a transition to high school or to college, where we saw groups of teens who lost weight in those important periods,” Jensen said in the press release. “It’s sort of an opportunity to re-make yourself.
There’s a lot of change going on, so some teens decide to make a change to be healthier.” CONTINUE READING
MEDICALDAILY
“Our findings suggest that teens have motivations that are more intrinsic. One implication is that parents should help to focus their teen on healthy behaviors for the sake of being healthy more than for social acceptance.”
In the U.S., around one-third of all adults are obese or overweight. Childhood obesity, meanwhile, has also been ballooning (but has improved recently thanks to Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! program) — it has doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past three decades.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), 21 percent of American adolescents (aged 12-19) are obese or overweight. Because of this obesity epidemic, parents and teens alike can take note of this study’s findings: Motivate yourself by the desire for good health, and you will go far.
The study, the authors write in the abstract, aimed to provide “an in-depth analysis of behavioral strategies, psychological factors, and social contributors to adolescent weight loss and weight loss maintenance.”
The researchers studied participants in the Adolescent Weight Control Registry (AWCR) — examining the success stories of 40 formerly obese kids.
These teens, on average, lost around 30 pounds and were able to maintain their lower weight for a year.
Sixty percent of these successful teenagers reported that their own health was their first and foremost motive.
Forty-three percent of them, meanwhile, said that being accepted by their friends or peers was a factor, one way or another.
But ultimately, almost all of the teens stated that it was their own decision to lose weight — even though they were helped by parents to create healthier meal and snack plans.
In addition, the time period that the teenagers decided to lose weight — particularly “big change” periods, like the transition of summers or changing schools, helped a lot.
“There were some periods, like a transition to high school or to college, where we saw groups of teens who lost weight in those important periods,” Jensen said in the press release. “It’s sort of an opportunity to re-make yourself.
There’s a lot of change going on, so some teens decide to make a change to be healthier.” CONTINUE READING
MEDICALDAILY
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