Youth health science

Many parents and even teenagers themselves still have the understanding of "health" that "if you don't have a fever or a cold, you are fine" and "drinking more milk and exercising more is enough." However, according to the "Adolescent Health Monitoring Report" released by the National Health Commission in 2023, true adolescent health is a dynamic balance of physiological development, emotional state, and social adaptability. More than 60% of adolescent health problems are in a "not sick" state - not enough to require medication and hospitalization, but it is already quietly affecting daily learning and living conditions.

Last week, when I was doing a free youth health clinic in the community, I met a boy who is a sophomore in high school. He is 1.78 meters tall and carries a 12-pound schoolbag. The shoulder straps are one long and one short. When he is carrying it, his whole shoulder tilts to the left. When he lifts his clothes, a small bump appears on the back of his neck. When he sits down for consultation, he is habitually hunched over, and his head is stretched forward so much that it almost touches the table. I reminded him that he should pay attention to adjusting his posture, otherwise he will easily develop scoliosis. He waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "I'm young, I'll recover after a nap." His mother, who was next to him, also followed suit and said, "The child's bones are soft, it's okay."

Oh, by the way, there are actually two completely different opinions on postural adjustment for teenagers: Most orthopedic clinical doctors recommend that children aged 10-16 years old have their spine checked every six months. The bones in this age group have not yet been completely calcified, which is the period of high incidence of scoliosis. The number of scoliosis among primary and secondary school students in my country has exceeded 5 million, and it is still increasing at a rate of 300,000 every year. As long as the posture is adjusted in time and combined with rehabilitation training, 90% of mild cases can be fully recovered, and the bones can be finalized by the age of 18, and severe cases may even require surgical correction.； However, there are also many bloggers in the field of parenting who advocate "free-range care", saying that deliberately correcting postures will make children anxious, so just do whatever is comfortable for them. In fact, there is nothing wrong with either statement. If the child is usually very active, gets up and shakes after sitting for half an hour, and twists around even when doing homework, then there is really no need to intervene too much. ； But if you are like this boy who sits for 10 hours a day to do homework, and you already have back pain and shoulders that are high and low after sitting for a long time, and you don't take it to heart, then you will definitely be the one who suffers in the end. I gave him a bad idea at the time, asking him to stuff the books he didn’t use every day into the classroom locker, so that he could carry two kilograms less. He frowned and said, "What if I need to use it at night?" Haha, do all middle school students feel that they feel safe only if they carry the entire backpack home? In fact, 90% of the books they bring back home will not be opened at all.

After talking about the tangible issues, let’s talk about emotional health that many people tend to ignore. Last month, a girl in the third grade of junior high school was accompanied by her mother for consultation. She said that she would have diarrhea a week before every mock test. She went to the gastroenterology department several times to find out the problem. Her mother always felt that she was faking it and wanted to avoid the test. In fact, this is not an act at all. It is a typical stress-induced irritable bowel syndrome. When the mood becomes tense, the stomach and intestines will become angry. It is a real physiological reaction. Survey data from the Chinese Psychological Society in 2024 shows that nearly 20% of teenagers aged 14-18 have varying degrees of anxiety. Less than 10% of them will take the initiative to tell their parents, and most of them hold it in themselves. In the end, it turns into minor problems such as headaches, diarrhea, and insomnia for which the cause cannot be found. Nowadays, there is a lot of controversy about the emotional problems of teenagers: many older generations always say, "We didn't have much to eat at that time and had so many things to do, but today's children are too pretentious." However, most doctors in the clinical psychology department will recommend that as long as the child has low mood and loss of interest that lasts for more than two weeks, he or she must undergo an anxiety and depression assessment, and cooperate with drug intervention if necessary. In fact, it’s not that children in the past didn’t have emotional problems. It’s just that there was no corresponding diagnostic system at that time. Many problems were classified as “introverted” and “ignorant.” Children today face greater academic competition and online social pressure than they did a few decades ago. It is inherently unfair to apply old experiences to new problems. Later, I chatted with that girl’s mother for half an hour and asked her not to focus on her child’s grade ranking. I would go out for a half-hour walk with her before each exam and she would not need to take medicine. The diarrhea problem got better on its own later.

There is another point that people rarely pay attention to, which is social health. I had dinner with some junior high school teachers a while ago, and they said that the children in the class are very interesting now. They would rather talk to netizens about game strategies for half an hour in the QQ group than borrow an eraser from their classmates. They stay at home and watch short videos every day during the holidays, and are too lazy to go out to play with their classmates. There is also a fierce debate about whether to restrict the use of electronic products by teenagers: one group says that strict control should be carried out, and mobile phone use should be no more than 1 hour a day. Otherwise, it will not only hurt the eyes, but also easily become addicted to the virtual world. ； The other group says that the Internet is now a social platform for teenagers. What classmates talk about are short video memes and game skins. If they are not allowed to use them at all, it will make children lose touch with their peers and isolate them. My own experience is that it is definitely not possible to confiscate mobile phones across the board. Previously, a parent confiscated a child's mobile phone. The child secretly saved up his pocket money for three months and bought a second-hand one. He hid under the quilt and played with it every day, which in turn hurt his eyes even more. It is better to make an agreement with your child, for example, you can watch short videos or play games, but you must go out to play ball with friends twice a week, and spend no less time socializing offline than online. This will not delay him from finding common topics with his classmates, and will not prevent him from being bored at home all day long and becoming more and more socially anxious in front of the screen.

After all, adolescent health is never determined by a standardized physical examination form. Your child loves to run and jump, and occasionally stays up late playing games with friends. As long as he is energetic enough to go to school the next day, there is no need to dwell on minor problems.； But if he always says he is tired, doesn’t want to go to school, feels pain everywhere, and no organic problem can be found, don’t take it seriously. Squat down and ask him how he really feels. It will be more effective than any health supplement or brain supplement.