Many students leave their homes once they start studying for Class XI-XII coachings in another city or enter professional courses or new jobs. As there is no parental monitoring or support, there are certain changes in lifestyle and especially food habits which take place. These changes are very gradual but have a very long term impact on the health and wellness of the youngsters. These students are mainly in the age group of 16-25 years.
We as Mentor and Mom listen to these challenges and concerns of parents for their children. We tell you how it starts gradually and what should be done:
1. Irregular meal timings
With no parents present around, it’s liberating for youngsters to sleep late and wake up late. While sleeping late, they feel hungry at midnight and eat snacks like chips, chocolate, noodles etc. This makes their stomach full and subsequently leads to skipping breakfast as they don’t have an appetite or get late to reach classes or office. Such habits affect the productivity of a person.
2. Changes in food choices
A home provides wholesome meals which include daal, rice, roti, sabzi, curd and salads.
Once away from home, it’s difficult for youngsters to get access to proper food or to take out time for buying the cooking raw materials or to instruct the house help or get the wholesome food at mess or canteen.It can lead to nutrient deficiency in the body and inability to focus properly.
3. Eating of more junk foods due to celebrations and parties
As there are no restrictions from parent’s side, youngsters tend to attend an increasing number of birthdays and parties of friends. They tend to consume a lot of cakes, pastries, pizzas and junk foods. Weekends may become even more hectic due to planned outings and sightseeings. So they again tend to eat more from outside and this food is mostly unhealthy food. These foods can give rise to weight gain, hormonal imbalances, hair fall, mood swings etc.
4. Replacement of water with unhealthy drinks
Cold drinks or mocktails are consumed more as a status symbol along with other fast food. Lots of combo items offer free cold drinks and youngsters consume it without knowing their side-effects. Because of this, there is significant reduction in water intake by children nowadays which causes lots of underlying problems like laziness, tiredness, constipation, acne, infections etc.
5. Lack of awareness towards healthy desi/local foods
Many children of today's generation have stopped eating home-made sweets like kheer, laddoos etc. but they indulge in eating chocolate mousse, cakes, pastries etc. They don’t want to consume ghee due to fat content but are unaware about good and bad fat and end up eating bad fats in fast foods. This again can create nutritional imbalance.
These changes from healthy to unhealthy habits happen very gradually. These can then also become the cause of obesity, hormonal imbalances like PCOS, acne, hair fall, loss of concentration, tiredness, constipation, proneness to infections and may even become the reason for infertility and lifestyle related illnesses like high blood pressure and diabetes later on.
It’s very important to eat simple balanced meals from time to time and keep the fast food/ junk food to a minimum. It’s equally important for parents to communicate with their children from time to time about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.
About Mentor and Mom:
Mentor and Mom is an initiative by Dr. Monika Mittal and her two IITian sons, Ameya Mittal and Sarthak Mittal. With our enriched experience and practice over the years, we provide mentoring and effective study tips to help you prepare for JEE, NEET, and other exams. Our aim is to build a happy, healthy, and motivated student community!
Do follow our blog posts for FREE tips! Also, you can reach out to us and send your queries on WhatsApp (8779821245) and we will be happy to help :)
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