Abstract
Everyone knows or at the very least ought to know how dangerous weight gain is in the modern times, yet obesity levels continue to rise. Obesity is primarily a lifestyle issue that can be controlled through a proper diet and exercises. The situation begs the question of why people in general and adolescents, in particular, do not take active measures to extenuate the problem of obesity. This paper looks into the issue of obesity from the adolescent perspective. Within this age, obesity can be most damaging physiologically and psychologically both on a short-term and on a long-term basis. The research will establish ways and means of ensuring that relevant steps are undertaken to curb obesity. Available research shows that the causation for bearing factors to obesity, more so lack of exercise among adolescents vary demographically with African American girls having a specific causation that may differ from other racial groups (Stankov, Olds & Cargo, 2018). The research will also cover the reasons for these girls to decline to undertake exercises and other lifestyle changes that would mitigate obesity include interpersonal extremities based on relationships, and intrapersonal reasons based on the perception of the self. Obesity among African American adolescent girls is a serious problem that seems to be exacerbating. This paper will argue that although physical exercise is a viable solution to the same, several social issues relating to the target population limit their propensity to physical exercises hence encouraging the worsening of the problem.
Main Barriers to Physical Activities
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Borders
Interpersonal and intrapersonal borders are among the key reasons why adolescent African American girls avoid undertaking physical exercises, more so those that are sports related. Adolescence is a time of major biological and psychological changes for girls which bear on the issue of obesity. It is at adolescence that the acute growth rate of childhood begins to subside. The resources that the body has been extending in growth become available to increase body mass thus encouraging obesity. From a psychological perspective, adolescence brings a high level of self-realization that creates a high level of shyness and self-awareness. A post-pubescent girl will feel shy and put off by circumstances that she would have barely noticed at a younger age (Pocock et al., 2010; Stankov, Olds & Cargo, 2018). The body also begins to change in many noticeable ways that will be noticed by the girl’s peers, but above all by the girl herself, creating a significant psychological impact. Interpersonal extremities regard the girl’s peers and what they say or seem to say about the girls. Bullying of girls who are considered to be overweight is a common phenomenon among adolescents. The fact that African Americans are a minority exacerbates the bullying problem for the girls on focus in this research paper. The bullying will discourage the girl from taking part in physical activities so as to avoid peers who might say negative things about her weight (Boyington et al., 2008). From an intrapersonal perspective, the adolescent girl will almost always consider herself to have added weight more so because of the aforementioned physiological changes. The belief that she has added weight will encourage her to hide more, thus limiting her ability to indulge in physical exercises (Pocock et al., 2010). Perception and attitude are the key drivers of interpersonal and intrapersonal extremities that limit participation in physical exercises by African American girls.
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Institutional Barriers Based on School Rules
Institutional barriers against African American girls exercising so as to avoid or combat obesity mainly relate to how schools approach the subject of obesity in general. An overwhelming majority of schools in America have comprehensive programs to encourage physical exercises among students (Stankov, Olds & Cargo, 2018). These programs are meant to curb obesity but from the perspective of African American adolescent girls, the programs to some extent discourage them from undertaking physical exercises. In most schools, it is mandatory for all girls to wear specialized sports kits during sporting activities. Swimming and sports gear are designed in a manner that can be very revealing, therefore a girl who is uncomfortable with how her body looks or who has been getting bullied because of her looks will be very reluctant to wear revealing sports’ uniforms. Such girls will find means of escaping from sports activities and physical exercises, simply to avoid the real or imaginary embarrassment of wearing revealing attires. The manner in which teachers, trainers and even health experts deal with African American girls on the subject of obesity can also be a barrier. A misunderstanding between a well-meaning teacher and a shy adolescent can also discourage the adolescent from taking part in the studies (Stankov, Olds & Cargo, 2018). Lack of sensitivity, poor planning, and poor programs mainly inform the institutional barriers for physical exercises by Adolescent African American girls.
Social and Environmental Factors Away from School
The pecuniary status of parents, the security status of residence, and social perception are among the social and environmental factors that limit physical exercises among the targeted population. Race is an important factor in social stratification within the USA with African Americans predominantly falling within the lower echelons of social strata. Social status happens to be a major determinant of the kind of neighborhood that a family will reside in. Based on the above, many African American families find themselves poor and are forced to live in inner-city neighborhoods (Boyington et al., 2008). Among the relevant characteristics of these neighborhoods is lack of space and high levels of insecurity. Physical exercise will more often than not be regarded an outdoor activity unless indoor amenities have been developed for the same. In these poor neighborhoods that many African American families live, there are few indoor arenas if any. Electing to exercise outdoors such as jogging, hiking or cycling exposes the girls to the mental changes of insecurity such as rape, violence, and mugging. Given the choice between security and exercise, most of the girls chose the former over the latter. The other available option for exercise include being a member of a sports club or regularly attending health clubs, but this is also beyond the purview of poor families.
Finally, culture is also part of the environmental factors that limit the propensity for exercise by adolescent African American girls (Boyington et al., 2008). A good example would be Islam, to which a large number of African American families belong and within which physical exercises for girls are frowned upon. It is also within the cultural perspective that parental and societal opinion about obesity and physical exercises comes into play. There are still people who do not take obesity seriously as a health issue and just consider it as a social issue (Stankov, Olds & Cargo, 2018). Failure to take obesity seriously limits parents and the society from taking active steps to ensure that amenities for physical exercises are available for adolescent girls. Poverty, insecurity and wrong attitude are among the major environmental factors that limit physical exercises and combating obesity among adolescent African American girls.
Adverse Effects of Lack of Exercise
Lack of exercise among African American adolescents is the primarily the cause of obesity and the many adverse physiological consequences of obesity within the said group. With or without obesity, lack of exercises leads to weakened muscles and bones which can be dangerous to adolescents as they are at a critical juncture of growth (CDC, 2018). The weaknesses can limit physical activities on a short and long-term basis and also increase the propensity for physical injuries. Obesity increases the chances of developing cardiovascular disorders among teenagers and also encourages the advent of exacerbation of several illnesses. Further, being an obese adolescent exponentially increases the chances of becoming an obese adult. Obesity in adulthood increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disorders and also encourages the advent of several types of cancers (CDC, 2018). Finally, lack of physical exercise and obesity has a major psychological and social impact. The fear of bullying and victimization may also have a social impact with the adolescent avoiding interaction with peers leading to social isolation. The social and environmental factors defined above present the need for relevant intervention increasing propensity for physical exercise.
Age and Time Frame of Exercise Engagement
With growth into adolescence, age and time factors increase commitments and transform mannerisms thus limiting the capacity of adolescent African American girls from participating in physical exercises. Despite increasing trends in our culture towards celebrating women and girls in sports, there is still a strong pervasive stereotype that sports are not considered feminine. Many adolescent girls become more likely to view sports as a male activity, consequently decreasing their involvement in many sports or recreational events. Most children are physical exercise enthusiasts as they have the time, energy and drive to participate in physical exercises almost all the time. A small child has the ability to transform any scenario in life from watching TV, playing a video game, attending class or running an errand into a physical exercise opportunity. The children will just hop, run and jump anywhere and at any time without concern about who can see and what they will think. The kind of opportunities available to children for exercise are also available to adolescents. However, the capacity to utilize these opportunities is extremely limited due to psychological and social considerations (Pocock et al., 2010). With these limitations, exercise for African American adolescent girls is limited to time specifically set apart for exercise which is where the problem of time comes in (Boyington et al., 2008).
Many Africa American families are on the lower echelons of social strata and in most cases, their best chance to break the social stratum ceiling is getting admitted to a good higher education center, through getting good grades (Davis & Maldonado, 2015). Attaining high grades in a low-quality education center takes a higher sacrifice in the part of the student as professional assistance is either limited or insufficient. The adolescent will thus lack enough time to balance between study and setting apart time for physical exercise. An allowance may be made for physical exercises in school but as indicated above, some institutional challenges make it difficult for the student to engage in physical exercises at school. The combination of shyness, social perception, and time limitations ensure that as African American girls grow from childhood into adolescence, their propensity for physical exercises keeps on diminishing to their detriment.
The necessary changes for the development of interventions for the lack of physical exercises among adolescent African American have to include social and character aspects. The society and the way it perceives African American girls from a social setting has to change to the extent that it limits their capacity to undertake physical exercises and also their negative perception about physical exercises (Woolford et al., 2016). A conscious effort to influence their attitudes as far as participation in physical exercises is concerned can transform their attitude towards the same thus providing substantive mitigation (Syrad et al., 2015). Sedimentary behavior, be it out of choice or circumstance is an important bearing factor towards the problem of obesity (Tremblay et al., 2017). Sedimentary behavior can be defined as a penchant for activities and poses that diminish energy consumption during the times when an individual is not asleep. These activities are mainly dominated by reading and screen-time, which can be defined as the time spent watching TV, using a computer or playing video games. Unfortunately for adolescents, both leisure and learning are dominated by sedimentary activity thus reducing chances for physical exercises, a trend that needs active intervention in the interest of health.
Useful Intervention Development
The primary point of intervention to increase physical activity within the target group relates to a change in behavior, perception, and attitude towards physical activities both in the target group and those who are around them. Based on the research above, intrapersonal and interpersonal extremities have a lot to do with reduced physical activities among the target group, making it a worthy place to begin developing the intervention. Bullying is a serious problem among American schools and mainly targets minorities such as African Americans more so those considered as obese. Most schools have adopted zero tolerance towards obesity but it is not enough. A proactive approach that gets to and resolves the basis for bullying would be a more effective intervention (Johnston, 2015). Mitigating bullying will reduce the interpersonal and intrapersonal barriers, as outlined above, thus increasing physical exercise for African American adolescent girls. Counseling in the other part would be an effective intervention for intrapersonal extremities. The counseling should take the hybrid approach of reducing self-loathing and also a change of attitude towards physical exercises. When adolescents are made to understand that lack of physical exercises can be a matter of life and death, it will be easier for them to overcome their fears and prejudices about the same.
Parents must also take a participatory role in the extenuation of the institutional barriers to physical exercises. In most intuitions, parental intervention can create an exception of a student to general rules such as being allowed to wear a t-shirt during a PE lesson or being allowed to swim in a less revealing attire. A simple question by a parent about whether or not a student is participating in sporting activities consist of intervention of the parent(s), thus enabling the adolescent to participate in the sports in future. Issues relating to exercises and the rules applicable can also be raised in PTA meetings in an effort to establish more flexible regimens. Most schools make rules based on the general population but parental intervention can enable the general rules to be bent so as to suit a specific segment of the general population, such as African American adolescent girls (Syrad et al., 2015).
Adults, be they parents, members of the community, teachers, administrators and healthcare professionals should also be assisted in taking the lack of exercise problem more seriously and being sensitive to the specific needs of African American adolescents. For example, a concerted effort between parents and teachers is necessary to break the prevalence of sedimentary behavior (Tremblay et al., 2017). Such effort is only necessary when the subject matter herein is taken seriously enough. The words or conduct of a teacher, coach or healthcare expert can cause an adolescent to develop a negative mentality about physical activities. Developing the right attitude towards the instant problem can enable the prevention of such words or conduct. Finally, an investment in time and money is necessary to ensure that the target group increases the level and extent of physical exercises that they engage in. Schools need to invest in more amenities, parents need to invest in a health club or occasional outdoor activity and neighborhoods need to be made safer for walks, hikes, and jogs. To effectuate all these changes, the problem of lack of physical exercises among African American adolescent girls needs to be taken more seriously than it is now (Syrad et al., 2015).
Analysis, Summary, and Conclusion
Physical activities prior to and during their pre-teens are fundamental to eliminating obesity and other adverse effects that are vested upon adolescents who do not undertake enough exercises. The rate of physical exercises is normally high enough due to physical, environmental and social factors but the scene changes after puberty, more so among African American girls for a variety of issues. How the African American girls perceive themselves after puberty and also how they are considered by others is a major limitation and hindrance to physical activities. As indulging in physical activities can be a matter of life and death, it is critical to limit the negative perception and any bullying vested upon these girls so as to encourage them to participate in the more physical activity. School provides a massive opportunity for indulging in physical activities that can increase physical exercises, but African American adolescent girls face a major handicap. Rules about sports kits have the ability to make the target group feel vulnerable and uncomfortable thus limiting their participation. Failure to participate in school activity programs is exacerbated by the inability to participate in physical activity privately. Academic pressure, poverty, insecurity and sedentary behavior are among the factors that limit exercises for the target group, which factors stand in need of extenuation. To intervene in these factors, a universal change of attitude is necessary. The change begins with the African American adolescent girls themselves, their peers in school, school administration and related professionals, parents and also the society at large. Each of these parties has an important role to play in ensuring that the target group gets more physical exercise to mitigate the adverse effects of the same. The adversities to be prevented include an eventual risk for several kinds of cancers, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and also bone and muscle weaknesses.
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