What are the health risk behaviors of adolescents?

We have been doing youth health intervention for so many years. To be honest, the scope of health risk behaviors is much wider than most parents think. Any behavior that may damage current or even future health, and in serious cases can directly cause injury or death, is included in this category. It is not just the familiar "bad behaviors" such as fighting and smoking.

Last month, I went to middle school with a colleague from the district disease control department to conduct behavioral monitoring. I met a boy in the second grade of junior high school who said proudly that he and his cyclists rode a modified electric bike for 30 kilometers over the weekend. The helmet was too boring and he didn’t wear it the whole time. I asked him if he was afraid of falling. He said that he had good skills and could not have an accident. After listening to us, Chilly back - Nearly 70% of the accidental injuries and deaths among teenagers recorded in our district last year were caused by unintentional injury-related behaviors such as not wearing protective gear when traveling in traffic and driving modified cars in violation of regulations. On the contrary, the proportion of injuries caused by fights in everyone's mind is less than 20%.

It’s not just the “exposed” behavior of running outside that is dangerous. There are many behaviors that are hidden at home and even look like “loving beauty” or “loving learning”. If you are not careful, they will turn into health risks. These little habits hidden in daily life are like small cannons in your pocket. No one takes them seriously. When they are stepped on, they are very lethal. A while ago, I was chatting with the school nurse of the high school in my jurisdiction. She met a girl who was in her first year of high school. In order to wear a JK skirt to show her slim waist, she ate only a stick of corn and a glass of water every day for four months. She had to induce vomiting for almost two months. In the end, she fainted after running two steps in gym class. She was sent to the doctor and was found to have severe anemia, gastroesophageal reflux, and chronic pharyngitis. There are also many children who stay up until two or three o'clock in a row to catch up on homework and watch short videos, secretly save money to buy fruity e-cigarettes to smoke because they feel "fashionable and not addictive", and even scratch their wrists with a knife to vent when they are stressed. These behaviors hidden under the nose are all typical health-risk behaviors, which are no less harmful than racing and fighting.

The industry is still discussing some fuzzy areas, such as whether playing video games for two or three hours a day is considered dangerous behavior? Some experts believe that as long as it takes up exercise time and affects vision and work and rest, it is fine. Others believe that it cannot be one size fits all. After all, children now have to use electronic devices for online classes and checking information. As long as they are not addicted and do not affect their normal life, they should not be classified as dangerous behaviors. We usually don’t stick to the standards when doing intervention in the community. We always look at the actual state of the child first. If he plays games until he doesn’t even eat, fails exams continuously, or sleeps during class during the day, then we must intervene and guide him. If he usually plays for half an hour to relax after finishing his homework, we will not say to the public or online that this is a dangerous behavior.

In fact, to put it bluntly, teenagers are inherently curious and their ability to predict risks is not as good as that of adults. Many dangerous behaviors are not deliberately "bad", but they are just fun and unaware of the consequences. Parents do not need to feel threatened as soon as they hear these words. They usually talk to their children more about what they play and eat in daily life, and mention "remember to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle" and "don't skip meals to lose weight". Many risks can actually be avoided in advance.