Issues that affect teen fitness

The modern trends in teen fashion marketing have served to portray the ‘beautiful’ teenage girl as one who wears lots of fashion accessories, layers of mascara on the eyes, lip gloss, and even padded bras that hold nothing much. The fashion magazines have really succeeded in convincing young girls that this is the way to go if they are to be ranked top on the beauty list. As such many girls, as young as ten, have started going on fashion-oriented diets.
Issues of body weight and image have played on the society’s mind ever since the onset of the 20th century courtesy of the many movie film and media images that presented the perfect image of the male body as one with big muscles and the female one with a slender waist and shapely hips. This sort of marketing has not gone unnoticed by the viewers and they have largely contributed to the predicament that faces society nowadays. Teenagers are the most affected since this stage of development is characterized by the quest for a perfect body. As a result, most teenagers are adapting unhealthy lifestyles in a bid to attain that ‘perfect body’.
It is not only the teenage girl that is affected by this conception. The teenage boy has lots of challenges as well. The craze that seems to faze boys is that of developing large and muscular bodies. Many boys who are unable to grow muscles fast thanks to their body types are now indulging in the use of bodybuilding steroids and it is common to find teenagers using substances like creatine, growth hormone, and amino acids, amongst a host of other steroids. Both sexes are also largely influenced by the many music shows on TV that have music videos of ‘hot’ girls and muscle bound guys. It is no wonder since these shows are on TV when teenagers are just home from school.
Another disturbing trend that is fast getting attention is the fact that many teenagers are now opting to go for surgical cosmetic procedures that they believe will go a long way in making them look more attractive. These cosmetic procedures include things like nose-shaping, breast lifts and augmentation, tummy tucks, and liposuction. The media is again responsible for promoting such incidences due to what is displayed in various programs. The programs that come to mind in this context include those that call for ‘extreme makeovers’. Teenagers who watch these shows no longer have the urge to maintain the ‘natural appearances’ that they were born with.
Also related to this is the issue about healthy eating. Despite the fact that most teenagers are increasingly being drawn into maintaining that lean look there are some who are unable to eat healthy and as a result they have developed conditions like obesity. Research shows that about 14% of kids are seriously overweight and that 60% of overweight kids between the ages of five and ten exhibit at least one factor of risk that is associated with heart disease.