Being a teenager is hard. From dealing with peer pressure to studying hard to earn good grades, your adolescent years are not easy, both emotionally and physically. You undergo great physical change in your teen years. One day, your favorite pair of designer jeans fit perfectly and the next, they are two inches too short!
Don't freak out at all the changes that you're going through. Embrace it as a part of life. Your teen years won't last forever.
Though you can't control your body's growth, you can be in control of your health. By keeping healthy habits, eating a balanced and healthy diet, and exercising regularly, you can look and feel great. Plus, being physically healthy may even help you succeed in school! Long-term health benefits of healthy habits include preventing diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and even some cancers!
Although it is hard, try to stay away from peer pressure. If you hang around the wrong group of friends, you may end up engaging in unhealthy lifestyle habits that can put your life at risk down the line. This includes teen smoking. Smoking at a young age can have very negative effects on teen health.
Did you know that one in four teenagers smoke? Smokers are at an increased risk of developing respiratory infections, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. You're also more likely to develop wrinkles, yellow teeth, bad breath, slower healing time, and an increased risk of illness. To grow up healthy and strong, it's best not to start smoking at all.
Physical health in teens doesn't just have to deal with smoking. As a teen, you have to also worry about your menstrual cycle, teen acne and endometriosis.
Along with all the other changes you have to deal with, teen acne is often one of the most bothersome symptoms of adolescence. Up to 85 percent of teenagers will experience acne during their adolescent years. Fortunately, there are treatment options and over-the-counter medications you can take to treat and prevent acne.
If you're a sexually active teen, remember to use birth control to prevent pregnancy. Smoking and pregnancy is a dangerous combination, and it can have unhealthy consequences on the teen mom and her baby.
Our Physical Health in Teens section covers a range of subjects that you may want to know about teen health, including body image issues, anorexia and bulimia, your first pelvic exam, and much more!
Your body changes dramatically during your teen years - thanks (or rather, no thanks!) to puberty. If you're a guy, your voice will change, you will start growing facial hair, your penis will get longer and wider, and you may even become more muscular. Girls may become curvier and develop breasts. If you haven't already, you will soon experience your first menstrual period (which can start anytime between age 8 and 14. Some girls may get their periods sooner than others.)
Along with these physical changes, you will also change sexually. During the teenage years, many teens start sexually experimenting. In fact, did you know that an estimated 46 percent of teenagers between age 15 and 19 have had sexual intercourse at least once? These high statistics make teen sexual health a priority for many healthcare providers.
The decision to have sex comes with many risks, such as contracting an STD. An estimated 9.1 million teenagers and young adults (between age 15 and 24) contract a sexual transmitted disease and sexual transmitted infection every year.
Despite what you may have heard about STDs or STIs, they can happen to anyone who is sexually active. The only 100 percent way that you will not contract these diseases is through abstinence and by avoiding any type of sex - including oral sex!
To protect yourself against STDs and teen pregnancy, try to abstain from having unprotected sex. Be sure to use birth control whenever you have sexual intercourse. Even if you think your boyfriend or partner is clean, he or she can have an STD without any signs of infection.
Oral contraceptives will protect you from pregnancy, if you use it correctly. However, they are not effective in protecting against STDs. Latex condoms make sex safer and they reduce your risk of an STD.
The high rates of STDS, including herpes and genital warts, in the teen years make this an important issue in teen health. If undiagnosed, herpes during pregnancy can lead to neonatal herpes -- a devastating disease that can lead to death in newborns.
Women's Healthcare Topics is here to teach and inform you about Sexual Health in Teens. Remember that education is power! This section features helpful articles on teen sex, sexually transmitted diseases, birth control, and emergency contraception.
We are always updating and adding new content to this section, so come back often to read about the latest in teen sexual health!
As a teen, you are under tremendous pressure to be popular, earn good grades, and make important life decisions. You are also constantly fighting to discover who you are and to find your identity in the world. All of this stress can have negative consequences to teen health. This can lead to teenage depression, body image issues, and unhealthy eating habits.
In fact, around 20 percent of teens experience teen depression, and 30 percent of depressed teens will end up abusing drugs. If left untreated, depression can lead to suicide (the third leading cause of death among teenagers).
So if you are struggling with teen depression or body image issues, you should know that you're not alone. Millions of teen girls and guys struggle with body image issues, low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and depression. Eating disorders are also common among teenagers, though more common in girls.
If you're dealing with any of these issues, go get help for these issues. Don't deal with them alone. Reach out to your friends and family. Your loved ones can offer you emotional support, and your parents may be able to get you in touch with therapists and counselors. Your school may also have a counselor you can talk to when the going gets rough.
Keep in mind that it's okay to feel blue or down in the dumps sometimes. However, if you start to notice you are crying frequently, feeling worthless or guilty, having thoughts of death or suicide, sad or hopelessness, and loss of interest, you should get help. These are all symptoms of depression in teens.
Our articles in this "Mental Health" section will give you an overview of teen mental health subjects that you should be aware of.
Teen Eating Disorders: Anorexia and Bulimia
Our western society is obsessed with weight loss and keeping slim and fit. Television shows and magazines are covered with beautiful models and actors with the "perfect" body type - small and thin. When this is paired with peer pressure, it is easy for some teenagers to fall prey to body image issues and eating disorders.
In the United States, an estimated 7 million women suffer from eating disorders. Though you can get an eating disorder at any age, a majority of the sufferers are teenagers and young adults (under 25 years old).
Teenagers who have low self-esteem and a warped body image are at high risk for developing eating disorders. Genetics can sometimes make you vulnerable to developing these disorders. Participating in some sports and artistic activities (such as ballet, modeling, and wrestling) can also put you a risk.
Sometimes, teens who suffer from eating disorders also have other emotional illnesses, including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and substance abuse problems.
The two most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Though these disorders have different characteristics, they also have many similarities. For example, the people that have eating disorders tend to be perfectionists.
