Teens are in need of total care!

Wares Ali Khan :
Our country is an abode for nearly 36 million adolescents, a significant share of its entire population. Adolescence is the period following the onset of puberty and maturity during which a young person develops from a child into adulthood. It is a transitional period that requires special attention and a greater degree of physical, behavioral, emotional, and mental care for teenage kids. But, to that extent, adolescent-friendly holistic services and care are no longer a well-known construct in our country.
The adolescent period generally sets out from the age of 10 to 11 and prolongs up to 17 to 19 years. There is also a slight age difference between boys and girls as to the commencement of the stage.
At this time a comprehensive and stringent pattern of physical, behavioral, emotional, and mental changes appear where the adolescent kids experience several starring challenges. By the way, it is treated as the most important phase to be stepped up towards the expected level of maturation for the kids. In this phase of multiplex changes, the dominance of variant growth hormones might function in different capacities in them.
Since during this primal timeframe many necessary physical changes become seeable, a balanced diet plays a principal role which is composed of an appropriate amount of food from the available six food groups. Adolescent kids need to avoid junk food and processed food as these are supportive of their growing physique in no way. Besides, intake of adequate quantities of protein, minerals, vitamins, iron, and calcium is very essential. In some cases, the regular meal chart and food uptake timing of the teenagers gets disrupted. They need to take healthy square meals following proper nutrients and the required time interval of up-taking meals. The tendency of not taking food on time or taking surplus amounts of food beyond what their body truly needs might go adverse. Moreover, while taking the three-time meals, they also need to ensure a few healthy bites of wholesome snacks from time to time.
Teenagers need to maintain a healthy sleep cycle consisting of at least eight hours a day. They must go to bed and get out of bed following a regular and same timetable. There is a common notion that a child’s body grows in sleep is indeed somewhat true. So, adolescent kids must not be night owls, but rather be the dawn bird. A healthy sleeping practice will ever successfully bestow in reshaping and gearing up them both physically and mentally.
Teen kids also should have a scope of physical exercise regularly. Engagement in active games and physical movement will develop muscles and turn bones strong. A session consisting of a few minutes of physical exercise will essentially structure their brain and free-thinking ability. Alongside, teens’ habits of maintaining personal hygiene, having a regular bath, and drinking adequate water will hold them boosted up and expedite their physical recovery.
On the whole, adolescents undergo a rigorous form of rapid physical, cognitive, and psycho-social growth in this stripling period. Many adolescents in Bangladesh experience an acute crisis related to their mental health, yet this issue is underdiagnosed and undertreated. This rigid juncture of teen life affects how they feel, think, make decisions, and interact with the world around them.
 As teenagers are largely affected by and biased by the behaviors of the adults and the persons near to them, they should not be scolded and sacred. Concerned parents have to feel the kids like to be with them always, and provide the right care and compassion simultaneously. Sustaining an open mode of communication with the adolescent kids in respect of their core needs will render them relief and feel secure. So, parents should deal with their kids with patience and have a keen look at the four-featured growth in a bid to improve their total well-being.
 Adolescents need to be kept safe from all sorts of risk factors regarding emotional crises. As the more risk factors adolescents are exposed to, the greater the potential impact on their mental health. Teenagers with emotionally disturbed can also experience huge irritability, loneliness, frustration, or anger. Emotional disorders can intensely affect their growth, social inclusiveness, and socializing process. So, to promote mental well-being and protect adolescents from adverse experiences, psycho-social counseling is urgent.
 The pandemic Covid-19 has compelled teen kids to stay home for a long spell-keeping restricted in the four-wall space. Because of the disruption in their routine, they are more prone to hazards bound up to their adolescent period. At this time no monotonous and melancholy state should be spared for the teen kids. They need to be away from all varieties of negative feelings, focus and stress. That is why; respective parents need to listen to their adolescent kids with patience, give priority to their needs, and provide possible comfort and relief.
 
(Mr. Khan is an academic and
psycho-social counsellor).