Teenage girls' junk food diet leading to health problems later in life
Teenage girls' junk food diet is depriving them of essential vitamins and causing them health problems later in life, a report has found.
08 Jul 2011
Nutritionists have discovered that a diet of pizza, sweets, and sugary drinks is taking a severe toll on the health of young women which is having implications as they get older.
A study has concluded that teenage girls are shunning fruit, vegetables and oily fish, leading to almost half of teenage girls being dangerously low in key nutrients, such as iron, magnesium and selenium.
Iron, found in products such as red meat and green vegetables is vital for the production of healthy red blood cells and helps to keep the brain healthy. Magnesium from shellfish helps keep bones strong while selenium is beneficial to the immune system.
Research has concluded that one in ten girls is dangerously low in calcium, putting them at risk of brittle bones and falls and fractures in old age.
One in six is severely short of iodine, a mineral key to brain development in the womb.
The researchers, Carrie Ruxton, an independent nutritionist, and Emma Derbyshire, a Manchester University nutritionist, believe that teenagers' diets are particularly bad because they are at a stage in life where they start feeding themselves and skip meals.
Dr Ruxton said: "While things like heart disease and cancer affect people in their 40s, 50s and 60s, the very early stages happen several decades before."
She added that it was very important that teenagers lay down a balanced diet for the rest of their lives.
