teenagehealthrisks

Copy and paste your Teenage health risks Essay below (under the heading) - You should then change the "heading" to a title for your essay--By the end it should look like one huge document

__Heading #1__

__Obesity, Anorexia, Depression? Oh my!__ This generation is suffering. Every one of the teenagers of this generation is being subjected to a different variety of health risk. This is dure to the way the world has changed our lifestyles and all the technological advances that has come with out evolution. Three of the more damaging cases of teenage health risks are obesity, anorexia and depression. Increasingly around the globe, teenagers are getting fatter. This is mainly due to their lifestyle. The reason for these teenagers getting bigger waistlines is because the fat foods that they eat are of good taste and they have easy access to it. Such as fast food chains like McDonalds or KFC. Also, they’re eating less and less of the healthier and less well tasting fresh fruits and vegetables. And there are figures to go with these facts. For example, 20% of young people aged 13+ are overweight. In 2006 it was found that in the European countries that 1 million teenagers have a high blood pressure and 1.4 million teenagers have early stages of liver disorders. There are 20,000 teenagers suffering from type 2 diabetes and 400,000 have glucose intolerance. This is all due to them eating too much fatty foods and causing cholesterol and sugar to build up in their body. This shows that obesity has not only shown to be a sign of people being fat, but it can also cause many other health risks. And because obesity is showing up more frequently in teenagers and causes major health risks, this is indeed a large health risk for teenagers as adults and it affects their children if they don’t change their lifestyle. On the other side of the spectrum, is anorexia. This is when many young people (mostly girls) starve themselves because they are scared of being “fat”. Right now there in the world there are 7 in 1000 girls that suffer from anorexia and 1 in 1000 boys that suffer from anorexia. Because they keep on starving themselves they keep on losing weight no matter what it was when they first started. This means that you’re being malnourished and malnourishment leads to a wide range of problems such as; brittle bones and problems with your bowel functions which can eventually lead to bowel cancer. Anorexia can also cause you to start smoking cigarettes making yourself feel “full”, just to keep your weight down. Anorexia affects many young people and leads them to starve themselves. Anorexia also can cause many other health related problems such as being malnourished (by not eating enough of ones daily vitamins and nutrients) or having you start smoking (due to one wanting to feel full and not have to eat). And because young people start gaining a sense of individualism at their age, it’s when anorexia can strike the hardest, where they want to be the “perfect them” in their eyes and look good to everyone else. Because anorexia can target teenagers when they’re weakest and can cause many problems it is indeed a damaging and dangerous health risk. Then there is depression, one of the major leaders in causing problems among almost everyone, including teenagers and adults. Depression in itself is a health risk that affects teenagers majorly because of the stress that accumulates in teenagers from having to live up to theirs and others expectations. Also, in a time where we are becoming more aware of ourselves depression happens because we struggle with becoming who we are and because everyone is pressuring us to become different things. %5 of the children and adolescents in the general population suffer from every second taken and on every place reachable. Not only can depression add to emotional problems, but it can also cause obesity. This is because when one becomes depression, one becomes less active and start to eat to make up for being depressed (women and eating tubs of ice cream). Being a non-active person and eating a lot is a surefire way of becoming fat. And depression can also target people to make them contract anorexia too. This is because depression can also lead to low self esteem. Self esteem in a way connected to our physical appearance and when we have low self esteem we think of our body less and so to try and fix that we try to become “beautiful”. And one way people think of becoming “beautiful” is by becoming thing, and because of their low self esteem they just keep thinning themselves. Depression is a teenage health risk that affects everyone. It can also lead to other health risks that can cause further damage such as; obesity and anorexia. Because it is so common and is able to lead to other major health risks, depression is a dangerous and damaging teenage health risk. Obesity tends to lead to major health risks such as; liver disorder and type-2 diabetes and because it can affect teenagers easily it is a dangerous and damaging teenage health risk. Anorexia tends to bring health problems such as; malnutrition and causing you to smoke. Because it affects teenagers easily it can cause damaging health problems it is a dangerous and damaging health risk. Depression is something that plagues us all. It can lead to health problems such as obesity, anorexia and everything in between. Because it can affect teenagers so easily and be so damaging it is a dangerous and damaging health risk. These three are of the most dangerous and damaging health risks that teenagers can obtain; obesity, anorexia, and depression. If we allow this to continue, the whole human race will undoubtedly suffer. So what will happen now? Will we let this continue? Or will we release all our suffering?

__It is getting harder and harder to be a teenager.__ Society increases pressure on them for their future. In result, their health issues have increased. The rate of mental disorders is high, and escalates when people are uneducated about them and it is left untreated. However, if it is treated then it’ll benefit those in need – even if teenagers may be unwilling to come to terms with the disease at the start. The three main health issues for current teenagers are bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety and drinking. Firstly, Depression and Anxiety is a condition of emotional withdrawal and prolonged sadness, while some believe it is due to the rate of divorce increasing and single parents but actually, depression can occur in any non-single parent family. It is the fastest growing mental health problem in the world. Some many think that depression will cause a increase in hyperactivity or aggressive behaviour – that their children may lash out to hide their pain but studies have shown that it is in fact the opposite. Teenagers will become anti-social and in a greater need of professional help. Depression among teenagers in Britain alone has increased by 70% in the last 25 years – it has been linked that future problems such as being fired or homelessness are increased and more likely to happen when someone has been depressed in their teenage years. People believe that the increase of depression can be attributed to the increase of pressure in teenagers. In this day and age, teenagers are pressured into getting high grades in order to get into the top universities. This is having a negative result and one of the side effects is depression. Depression is rapidly growing – and people aren’t realizing the seriousness of it. With the increase of pressure from school, parents and society, this disorder has doubled worldwide. Treatment needs to be done and studies have to be conducted to save those who need it as there is no one conclusive treatment that has been shown to work thus far. Moreover, Bipolar disorder is an affective disorder where you suffer from mood changes along with depression interspersed with your normal self. It creates two types of symptoms – manic and depressive. If you are manic, you see an increase in energy levels while if someone is depressive, you see a decrease. This means that different symptoms can occur in different people- the type of bipolar disorder is not gender specific. The two completely opposite sides of this disease make it hard to diagnose someone correctly with it. In America, 5.7 million people are affected with this problem – and while there is treatment been done through psychotherapy to help people, more are yet to realize the seriousness of the issue. The therapy isn’t doing all that it can when people still need to be educated on what bipolar disorder is and how it’ll affect them if they know someone with the disease. With the chances of getting bipolar disorder increasing with family history of drug and alcohol abuse or if a parent had bipolar disorder, more need to be educated on the affects of bipolar disorder, its treatment and ways to live with it. Bipolar disorder is a disease that is tough to diagnose however with the proper education given – more will be able to learn about it. This will encourage teenagers to seek counseling and receive the medical care they need. Furthermore, young teenage drinking is generally a problem overlooked as many will say it is at the fault of the parents. But these teenagers need support – groups like NHS – which use intravenous fluids to counteract the alcohol dehydration and help them recover. Some of the young teenagers affected with this problem are as young as eleven – out of those that are given the correct treatment, barely one in four attend the intervention clinics setup for them to combat their issue and help them recover. If more people were to teach teenagers on the dangers of drinking, less would be more inclined to do it or if they were already subject to a drinking problem then they’d far more likely go to a clinic to combat their issue. Due to drinking, many teenagers wind up in the emergency room late at night. 52% of A&E departments have made it so that these teenagers who end up in the emergency room get sent directly to a specialist to help them. However, this is only 52% - there are still 48% that have yet to do this, and frankly, not enough is being done to help those in need. Young drinking is an issue that is common in most societies – parents tend to not want to come to the realization and then the general public blames the parents. If more clinics opened and helped these teenagers, people could realize just how vulnerable they are and how much help they actually need. In conclusion, these are three of the main health issues that are affecting teenagers these days. Treatment is being done to help these issues, but with more help, it can make a difference in teenager’s lives. Bipolar disorder can be helped by talking to the parents and getting treatment to help understand the issue. With depression, we can educate people on the symptoms and prevent future troubles from shadowing depressed teenagers. Lastly, learning how to combat teen drinking and just how many teenagers are affected by it can be a step towards reducing the numbers. Disorders and teen issues are on the rise and if nothing is done to threat them, it may escalate to something we can’t handle. The first step is to help those around you – be aware if anyone you know many suffer from a particular issue. Making a local impact can help to make a global change.

__ Internal and External forces, which is at fault? __

Humans have not evolved to sit at unnatural tasks in an unnatural environment. At this day and age, mental health of teenagers has sharply declined in the last 25 years. Depression has sky-rocketed: Lying, stealing and cheating have risen and cases and symptoms of ADHD as well as narcolepsy both have amplified. To this, we ask, are teens affected by society pressuring and pushing them or is it just a fact we have to face?

Depression can affect a teen regardless of gender, social background, income and race. Girls report suffering more than boys and this is due to social expectations. According to research, depression has increased by 70% among adolescents. Depression is the number one cause of suicide, if a teen suffers from depression; they are 12 times more likely to attempt suicide. To put it into a bigger picture, 7% of depressors may commit suicide. The exact cause of depression is not known. Many researchers believe it is caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, which may be hereditary or caused by events in a person's life. However, there is treatment for this. Drugs used to treat depression are called antidepressants. Also, there are programs such as talk therapies, support groups and even prevention. Could depression really be caused by events in a person’s life? Or is society to blame for putting too much pressure on young, fragile youngsters?

This brings me to my next point. In the 21st century, lying, stealing and cheating have undeniably increased. Has society driven teens to the point where they cannot differentiate what’s wrong or right? Due to this, teens face difficulty in school, attempt crime, and most probably end up in juvenile prison before 18. We are not giving teens the emotional support they need along with love. This has impacted them mentally and physically in health. According to research, 64% of teens confessed that they have cheated on a test the past year. 1/3 of boys, ¼ of girls have admitted to having stolen something from a store in the past year and 42% have lied to save money. Teenagers lie, they cheat and they steal. Now, they are doing it more often and more easily than ever. In fact, more than $13 billion worth of goods are stolen from retailers each year, that equivalent, to 35 million a day! Out of these, 25% are kid shoplifters.

In order to solve mental problems, are steroids for the brain the answer? According to research, 15 million Americans suffer from ADHD. This is a hyperactive disorder. Ritalin and adrenal are stimulants to treat ADHD. This could lead to teens facing difficulty in school, inattentiveness, interruption of teachers/classmates, consumption of alcohol and drugs. Narcolepsy affects 1 in every 2000 in the U.S; Narcoleptics have 10 times the rate of automobiles accidents as non-narcoleptics. Unlike most disorders, ADHD has no known cause. Doctors diagnose it based on symptoms. Teens suffering with ADHD have 400% more traffic accidents and tickets than teen without ADHD. If left untreated, these problems could turn into a much more dangerous problem to society.

Is society or the individual at fault? What will happen if society doesn’t step up? We will likely see a rise in all of these mental issues if these teens don’t get the proper affection, care or support. To conclude, we see a rise in all these mental health issues due to society pressurizing teenagers as well as the individual’s life and experience. In order to lower or even eradicate these issues, both external and internal influences on a teen’s life have to work together. Parents need to give their children support, while the individual should be aware of their well-being and make sure they associate with the correct groups.

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Teen behavior- the major causes of teenager’s death?

Do you know what are the top causes of death in teen’s age 15 to 19? The answer is…most teens death are caused by accidents and suicides. So teenagers are facing Health risks based on their individuals behaviors and mental health. Now day teens are facing more pressures, including social pressure, peer pressure, family pressure, etc. Therefore as result, they would have a higher risk of having mental illness and more likely to behave treachery. The following health risk that I’m going to talk about all has to due with teenager’s individual behavior and mental illness, drinking, eating disorders, and underage pregnancy. Where as all of them can directly lead to the top teen death cause, accidents and suicides.

Teenage is the age of treachery, where most of them might think that drinking is the cool thing. At the same time being cool also enjoying tipsy feelings. However they doesn’t consider the consequences. Going to hospitals more rapid would be one of them. In hospitals, many teenagers showed up fairly drunk. For example, the Royal Sussex country hotel, statistic shows that 5-7 teenagers shows up a week due to drinking, where rest of them comes in with injuries (false behavior), self harm (depression). This proves that after drinking especially drinking too much they do not have the ability to control their behaviors and actions, which theirs emotions will be magnified, which mostly lead to extreme acts, such as violence, unconscious moves (leading to accidents), self harming, suicide, etc. Therefore drinking has a tremendous negative impact on teenagers. Hospitals and parents should give more attentions to teenage drinker, and provide special therapy for them. For result the reduction of teenage drinking would definitely decrease the number of death caused by drinking and suicides.

Another Health risk that is closely affected by individual behavior will be underage pregnancy. There are more than 20 girls between 13 and 15 become pregnant everyday. And England has the worst rates of underage pregnancy in west Europe six times higher than Holland and three times that France. In 2007, England have 8000 girls under 16 get pregnant, although more than half of them end in abortion. You must ask why are there so many underage pregnancies? In developing countries such as Tanzania, girls are been forced to get married in there min teens. Which makes teen pregnancy very common in the region. However. In most of the developed country the reason is pretty different. Some of them believe that having sexual relationships before 20 is the “in thing” for them, while most of them are lacking comprehensive information and knowledge about safe sex. By the way, the taking in of alcohol and drug would also promote their sexual behavior. In addition, there are many cases of sexual abuse and rape. This would not only increase the risk of underage pregnancy, it would also damage the victims mental health. Teen pregnancy’s negative consequences can ruin a teenage mother’s life and future. Their academic performance will get worse. Only 40% of those teen mother become high school graduates, where rest of the 60% of them either dropped out from school or cannot pass the grades. Teen pregnancy will also lead to poverty, depression, and other mental disease due to massive amount of pressure. Most of them end up in abortion, since they don’t think they are ready to take the responsibility, abortion is extremely unhealthy. England have made a really bad example, of the 23,556 underage conceptions in England in the last three years, a total of 13,474 were aborted. This awful experience is neither good of teen’s physical health nor mental health.

Eating disorder is one of another health risk that has both physical and mental impacts. It is the fear of becoming over weight, then end up not eating enough food. This affects every 7 girls in every 1000 and every 1 boy in every 100. In America, 10 in 100 young woman suffers from it. Eating disorder can be caused by various reasons including social pressure of idealizing being thin, family problems where refusing your diner is the only way of saying “no”, depression and other genetic reasons. The effects of eating disorder are really serious. It can cause dehydrate, weakness, kidney stone and failure, constipation, heart failure, depression and death. However, most of the patients who suffer from eating disorder have some mental illnesses. 3 or 4 in every 100 have eating disorder deny that they have a problem and has depression. There for health risks like thus, should first be consider to mentally cure the patients.

In conclusion, according to above most health risks that teenager facing are based on their mental healthiness. Those health risks are basically caused by individual behaviors and thinking. Now a day, teenagers are carrying way more pressure than kids in old days, which leads to series negative impacts. Therefore what people would want to do to help teenagers is to either in school or in neighborhood to guide them facing the pressure correctly and positively. When this is achieved then I believe that the number of teenager committing suicide and dying from accidents will certainly decrease.

__** Make a change, to change yourself, and the world. -Patty **__

Peer pressure? Stress? Depression? Do these sound familiar to you? Constant beeping of cell phones? Trouble falling asleep at night? Can’t concentrate in class? Yeah, I feel the same… These are the symptoms of many life-taking health issues. As a teenager, we have many responsibilities to take on. Health is one of them, and in order to live life to the fullest, we must guarantee a good, healthy life style, and that starts from within ourselves. There are many teenage health issues that people are growing more concerned of, including Depression, Junk Sleeping, Teenage drinking and much more.

Depression is one of the top health issues in the world. It is very common in teens nowadays. Depression is a feeling of sadness, gloom, or sorrow for a long period of time, and it interferes with one’s life. It is said that at least 20% of women and 12% of men have gone through Depression at least once in their life. Depression can happen to people of all ethnicities, genders, ages, and health statuses. It is proven to be able to run in families, and is an inherited or degenerative health issue. If your parents or grandparents have been through Depression in their life, then you have a higher risk of getting it too. There are many causes of Depression, for example Bullying, Stress, and Emotional Instability, and may cause them to be more self-conscious or easier to give up and push everything away from themselves. But, one of the most common one is Trauma and/or Grief. Teenagers are very emotional and sensitive to many things, like loss, relationship problems, or bad grades, because one’s teenage years are ones that a person is clingier, seeking perfection, unrealistic in their goals and achievement or not having the determination or knowledge to deal with stress in an optimistic way. This makes them feel sad, unworthy, betrayed, lonely etc and creates a barrier from the world and they just lock themselves in it, which causes Depression. Also, other health issues can lead to Depression, like cancer or heart attacks. 1 in 3 heart attack survivors experience Depression and unsurprisingly, girls are more likely to have Depression, due to a hormonal factor, and also girls tend to be more self-conscious in their appearance or weight, and may have other issues like anorexia and bulimia. Depression can cause people to have sudden loss of interest in things they have previously enjoyed doing, significant weight loss or weight gain, trouble sleeping, death and suicidal thoughts, constant feeling of guilt and worthlessness and fatigue. It is a very scary time for a person to go through depression, so the next time you call someone names, or insult someone, consider the consequences first.

Also, Junk Sleeping is another health issue. It is not good for both your mental and your physical health. Junk Sleeping means having a bad length and bad quality of sleeping, which is caused by falling asleep while using electronic devices. In a survey of 1000 teens, a third of all 12 to 16 year old kids sleep for between 4 to 7 hours a night, while doctors recommend at least 8 hours a night for an average teen. 58% of 12 to 14 year olds all have at least a phone, a music player, and a game console in their own room. A quarter of teens fall asleep watching TV or listening to music at least once a week and 40% of the teens say they often get tired during the day, but just 10% place importance on getting a good night’s sleep. Junk sleeping is just like junk food eating, it can potentially lead to obesity. Since the body releases a type of hormone when you are tired so it makes you want to eat more sugary or starchy foods to regain your energy, but if you are tired, and you do not do much work or exercise, you cannot burn off the extra fat you gained and will lead to being over-weight. Other symptoms may develop too, like grumpiness, forgetfulness, more accidents may happen due to drowsiness, especially when driving. Also, you will be less alert, less focused, less concentrated, and less attentive in class, which will then lead to bad grades and maybe even Depression, as said before. Not only will it affect your brain function, but Heart diseases and Diabetes may develop too. You may have irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and will have more heart attacks, heart failures and strokes than an average person. Teens “Junk Sleeping” is very common due to the advanced technology of our generation. It should be avoided or else it can cause fatigue and drowsiness and can potentially lead to obesity. So, simply just turn off those devices and get a good sleep!

Another well known teenage health issue is Teenage Drinking. It happens all around the world. Teenagers drinking under the legal age, which is usually 18 or 21 can lead to brain damage, liver damage and more. These are laws set for a reason, drinking when your body are not fully developed yet can be very risky and dangerous. Alcohol consumers who start at age 15 are 5 times more likely to develop alcoholism later in life than those who start at age 21. It is hard to find an effective solution to this problem. It is usually caused by the teenager’s rebellious attitude, peer pressure, and involvement in other illegal activity. Studies show, 11% of all alcohol consumed in the US are by people ages 12 to 21, and 90% of that is from binge drinking, which is heavy consumption of alcohol during a short period of time. There may be serious consequences to these actions like accidents and injuries, alcoholism, social problems like fighting and drug use, and most importantly damage to your body. Alcohol Alert says, 12.8% of traffic accidents relate to alcohol consumption and 40% of those are related to teenage drunk driving. In 2005, emergency department visits by teenagers for alcohol related conditions or injuries reach up to more than 145 thousand visits. Drinking under the legal age not only gets you in trouble with the law and may be caught, but it also puts you in extreme danger, especially if you are drunk. Accidents don’t only take your life, but they also take the lives of other too, and it is usually more than just one.

These health issues are becoming more and more common. Those rebellious teens drinking, playing on their little electronics, having their head down all the time are in serious trouble. They are facing many dangerous health issues that we must pay more attention to. Depression found in a fifth of women in the world, and almost a tenth of men at least once in their whole life, Bad quality sleeping makes you more tired during the day and can lead accidents and mental issues, and drinking is very much related to car accident. We have to prevent these preventable issues before it’s too late and can cause unwanted results. We are future ambassadors of our world, and we must first take the step to be in healthy conditions before we start making decisions for the future, our future.

__**Teenage health risks. Are you aware of them?**__
 * It is unpleasant to suffer from a disease, but isn’t it worse to suffer from one without actually knowing the damage it causes? As teenagers it is very important to be aware of our health. Since a lot of teens suffer from diseases without actually realizing it because it is so common among teenagers. But teen health risks such as obesity, depression and anorexia can cause serious damage, and it is important for them to be aware of that.**


 * The figure (15%) of teen obesity has tripled in the last 20 years! Obesity is when excessive body fats are being stored, causing the person to become over-weight. According to the 2000 data, teens from ages 6-19, 15%, which is 9 million of them are suffering from obesity. It is also shown that another 15% of children and teenagers have great risks of becoming over-weight. Obesity can be an inherited health risk, as a lot of people find themselves suffering from obesity due to a family trend. The causes of obesity can also be due to lifestyle, such as eating disorder, and the lack of physical activity. A lot people feel that it is alright be over-weight as people around are not always fit. Some even believe that it is a sign of being healthy, having enough food. These are due to the lack of awareness of the impacts of obesity. Teenagers with obesity often feel more stressed, have lower self-confidence, and are more involved in bullying. Obesity also leads to a higher risk in heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and other weakening in physical well being. On average, obesity can shorten your life expectancy by 6 to 7 years!**

**Data has indicated that 20 out of every 100 American teens suffer from depression before they reach the age of 18. Teen depression is teens feeling sad and isolated at times. Teen depression can be caused by environmental factors such as stress and pressure from school work or peers, and daily struggles. It can also be based on the personality, such as low self-confidence. Some people believe that depression is a part of your life, especially for teenagers. However around 8.3% of American teenagers experience depression for a year, which is close to twice the percentage of depression experienced by the adult population. Serious depression like this will become a big obstacle in your daily life. Depression can cause self discouragement, frequent frustration, difficulties in concentration. The National Institute for mental health (NIMH) states that 8/100,000 committed suicide, and that 90% of the people who attempted or committed suicide suffer from depression. Serious depression is more than likely to lead to suicide.**

**1 out of 100 women are being affected by anorexia. Anorexia is a type of serious eating disorder when they barely eat anything due to the concern of body image. The number 1 out of 100 women might seem small, but that is because anorexia mostly only affects young women aged from ten to twenty. 50% of girls in the USA between the ages of 13 and 15 believe they are overweight. The main cause of this health issue is the fear of becoming fat. There is a higher chance of suffering from anorexia if the person has low self-confidence. The surrounding environment also has a great effect, such as family and friends, who are frequently talking about the importance of being skinny. The media, such as on TV, movies and magazines also has a great effect, where you are often comparing yourself with well-liked movie stars and models. A person who suffers from anorexia usually weighs at least 15% below than what is considered normal for his/her age and height. Some people probably like the fact that you weigh less, but that is because he/she is not aware of the seriousness. Anorexia can cause low blood pressure; brittle bones, due to the lack of calcium; heart failure; yellow skin and nail; loss of muscle and other life threatening impacts. The mortality rate of people with anorexia is 12 times higher than the annual death rate to all causes and deaths of female ages from 15-24. Anorexia has been proven that it is a type of slow suicide.**

**As the number of teenagers suffering in obesity increases, the life expectancy of the future generation is very likely to be affected, since obesity reduced life expectancy from 6-7 years. More teens suffering in depression, this is one of the main reasons why there are more teenage suicides occurring. The mortality rate of young women will increase due to the increase in young women suffering from anorexia. These three are examples of how common teen health risks are among teenagers, and also the serious impacts they create, leading to some of our major teen issues. This is why it is important to be aware of them. If you recognize yourself in any of these issues, don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed; start off by talking and sharing your thoughts and struggles with someone you trust. If treatments are needed, open your arms to them, because they will help you in having a healthier life in the future!**

__Fat, Drunk, Teenager Mother. Is this where our future is heading?-Phoebe__ It is estimated that the next generation will be the most infertile ad most obese in mankind history. The teenagers these days are facing an unhealthy society, causing a damaging impact on their bodies. The love of fast food, overexposure to sex and violence and social acceptance has brought us to face the fact that teenagers are in a harmful situation now. The three most significant issues would include obesity, teenage pregnancy and teen drinking. Obesity statistics are raising high mainly due to the high cholesterol food and lazy lifestyles. The modern day inventions like cars have prevented us from exercising by walking every day. Cars have given us a easier lifestyle but also took away that mandatory exercise. Also the fast growing industry of fast food and high cholesterol foods have given the teenagers a larger exposure to those unhealthy and fattening foods. The proportion of school aged children in Europe that are obese has risen at 50% since the late 1990. In the late 1990, the fast food companies weren’t dominating the world just yet, thus the teenagers then wouldn’t have such large consumption of fatty foods than we would have now. This affects mostly the younger teenager population, as happiness (the happy meal toys) comes along with the fatty foods. That is why one fifth of those aged thirteen to sixteen are overweight. If nothing is being done, then the number of teenagers who are obese are expected to grow by 1.3 million a year to a total of 2.6 million across the EU in 4 years. That is more than a third of the teenage population. Another issue we should deal with is the rising amount of young girls being pregnant before the age of 16. More than 8000 girls under sixteen became pregnant in 2007. Teenagers are still children, and children are not supposed to raise children. Obviously the adults are failing their job at ‘giving the best to their children’. Teenagers have been overexposed to sex and violence, thus influencing their minds and actions. 26% of sixteen to nineteen year old women first had intercourse before the age of 16. And 3% of women conceive under the age of 20. 20 is still a time when education is needed, and maybe when it is time to look for a job to support life. Conceiving a child at this age would create obstacles to the women’s career. Teenagers are not supposed to take care of babies at this age. The carelessness of people now have lead to a negative outcome. Parents must teach their sons and daughters sex education in order for them to have a greater future. Another problem that affects the teenager’s future is abuse of alcohol. Drinking of the teenagers was not a huge problem a few years ago, but as the world matures, teenagers no longer feel like teenagers. Drinking is a show of adulthood and due to peer pressure, to feel accepted in a group. The teenagers drink a lot. Compared to the last decade, young people aged 11-15 drink twice as much as the people back then did. Furthermore, at least 10.5 units of alcohol is consumed each week by those 11 to 15 year olds. Not only is drinking a lot causing a problem, so is the age. A fifth of 11-15 year old teenagers drink at least once a week. Teenagers at 11 drinking! This is serious issue, if this issue is left alone, it would not be surprising if primary kids start drinking as well. Obesity, Teen pregnancy and teen drinking are serious issues. One million children in Europe are estimated to have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, putting them at risk of heart diseases. These are all mainly because the children are overweight and obese. A teenager with a baby would be less likely to devote her time in school, but taking time to take care of her baby. Without school she would lose all means of being able to get a good job, thus her future is ruined. Her baby would most likely grow up in the same way, and get pregnant the way her mother did. This is the start of an unending vicious cycle. Lastly, drinking causes the cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis is killing an increasing number of teenagers now, due to alcohol abuse. Teenagers have been affected too much by the fast pace and the changing society’s negative impacts. The three most significant problems they have now are obesity, teenage pregnancy and teen drinking. If nothing is done, then our next generation would be the most infertile and obese in mankind history. We should start taking notice on these problems and try to find a way to solve them. __Heading #8__ Have you ever been offered an alcoholic beverage? What about a cigarette or, even a marijuana cigarette? Most people have their first drink by the time they are 13, and most people have their first cigarette puff by the time they are 15.These first times can be the start of trouble. The teenage phase is a very hard phase, young adults have to go through education, while looking for their inner selves, and on top of that, parents teachers and friends create huge pressure. The ways that teenagers use to calm these pressures down are not always right, but what happens when they don't try to relief their anxiety?

61% of 15 year olds in the UK have been offered drugs and more than ¼ have used drugs in the past year. This is shocking, when a teenager has real problems whether it is at home by parents and siblings, by peers or even at school by teachers, they search for a way to get out of these problems. In a case where someone offers them drugs, they will think it is the only wait out of their anxiety. Drug use can affect a teenagers life immensely, when they arrive to the point where they have to use it before school, they will not be efficient students, and this will lower their chances of getting into higher studies, and later on be active citizens for their community. The simple use a class C drug can ruin a teenagers life.

Alcohol is a leading cause of death among youth, particularly teenagers. It contributes substantially to adolescent motor vehicle crashes, other injuries, suicide, rape, and family and school problems. It is hard to imagine how destructive alcohol abuse can be to a teenager. Alcohol clouds your brain and makes it hard to make decisions. Excessive drinking can make your brain shrink and can cause serious damage. Drinking can cause learning disabilities and damage your memory. Teenagers often think that drinking will give more energy, but alcohol isn’t an energy drink, in fact it’s a depressant.  Alcoholic substances can mess with you mind so to speak. It slows down reaction time by altering the nervous systems performance. This can lead to loss of though behind actions whilst under the influence, but also can depress the user after the use.

The rate of emotional problems such as anxiety and depression has increased by 70% among adolescents, according to a study conducted in Britain. This means that teenagers are being more and more affected by depression, this is because they have so much on their back, and so much they have to do. Adolescence is a phase where the person searches for an identity and chooses their friends and decides what they want to do in life. On top of this, the teenager has to focus on school, manage what their parents say and what their friends say. Often these issues lead to drug use, alcohol abuse or depression as these substances can be seen as an easy exit route. Depression means that the person feels rejected and useless, it is often accompanied by feelings of hopelessness. Depression often leads to suicide and depression obviously affects and adolescents studies because the person becomes anti-social and doesn't effort whatsoever including academic work.

Every day, on average, 11,318 American youth (12 to 20 years of age) try alcohol for the first time, compared with 6,488 for marijuana; 2,786 for cocaine; and 386 for heroin. <span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: 'AlMohanad','serif'; font-size: 14px;">These people are adolescents that are obviously lead to choosing drugs rather than a balanced life, and why does this happen? Because they are in a period of crisis and no one is here to help them through it, they use the only way the know and often the easy way which is to use drugs or alcohol. People need to be there to help the generations that will lead our future world, and something needs to be done soon.

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