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Nearly
One in Three Teens Reports
Chronic Condition: StatsCan Survey
Chris Siems enjoyed playing sports as much as the next person
until tendinitis in his knees forced him into a more sedentary
lifestyle.
"I was always lazy, but now I'm even more lazy,"
he half-jokingly remarks of the affliction that has him
seeing a physiotherapist. Although a bum knee is common
enough among middle-aged athletes, Siems has been sidelined
at the tender age of 15.
The Toronto-area teen is not alone. Nearly one in three
Canadian adolescents reports having at least one chronic
condition that keeps them from feeling healthy, according
to a Statistics Canada survey released.
The survey of more than 12,700 teens across the country
found that 29 per cent of those aged 12 to 17 reported having
chronic ailments, most commonly asthma, bronchitis, back
pain or migraine headaches. For girls 15 to 17 that figure
rose to 36 per cent.
The results of the 2000/2001 Canadian Community Health
Survey were based solely on perceptions that teens hold
regarding their health and were not verified by medical
professionals.
Mental health was found to be the greatest divide between
boys and girls, with two per cent of boys aged 15 to 17
indicating they had suffered a major depression in the previous
year compared with 11 per cent of girls.
The study linked depression with reduced odds that teens
would report very good or excellent health.
Sedentary lifestyles also figured in health perceptions,
with 17 per cent of boys and 26 per cent of girls in the
12-14 demographic reporting inactivity during leisure time.
Older teens fared worse, with 21 per cent of boys and 36
per cent of girls claiming sedentary habits.
Also in the older age group, 14 per cent of teens admitted
to being daily smokers, with girls slightly more likely
than boys to smoke every day.
"I smoke cigarettes but I feel healthy," says
Angela Morano, 15, of Toronto.
She credits boxing lessons and a fast metabolism for helping
keep the pounds off despite a steady diet of fast food.
Her friend Fallon Manchin isn't as lucky.
"I don't eat healthy and it's bad for me because I
gain weight," says the 15-year-old.
But regardless of weight, isn't Morano worried about how
her lungs, heart and arteries are doing?
"I'm going through my young teenage stage, so obviously
I'm not going to concentrate on what I'm eating right now,
not yet," she says.
"It's still unhealthy, but at this young age it's
not something that I'd worry about."
But adolescence is precisely the time to take one's health
seriously, according to Dr. Brian McCrindle, who heads the
children's cholesterol clinic at Toronto's Hospital for
Sick Children.
"Children's' health is seriously being affected by
their lifestyle," says McCrindle.
Although the Statistics Canada survey suggests only four
per cent of teens can be considered obese, McCrindle says
his research indicates at least one in three kids are overweight.
"That's translating right now into an epidemic of
obesity," he said.
"If nobody does anything about it, it's going to translate
into a huge epidemic of young adults who are having heart
attacks and strokes."
Dr. Beth Abramson of the Heart and Stroke Foundation says
the trend can be reversed.
"Some small changes in the pattern of diet or exercise,
in even a very busy day, can make all the difference,"
she says.
"I think teens need to understand that if you were
to super-size your fries all you're doing is getting fat
for free."
It's an understanding apparently lacking among adolescents,
with 10 per cent of kids admitting they eat less than two
fruits and vegetables a day.
Abramson says it's essential to redirect teens' perceptions
of what is healthy.
"When you see a fashion model who is very thin, who
may be smoking and not exercising, that's the wrong message,"
she said.
"We want our youth to be not smoking, to be physically
active, to be eating heart-healthy food and to not be very
overweight."
McCrindle advises his patients to exercise, avoid processed
foods, and control portion sizes at meal time.
Article Source: Canadian Press
Article Author: Greg Bonnell
Net Reference 114
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