How Bad Habits That Can Affect Your Health

Bad Habits That Can Affect Your Health

Hey, there beloved reader! Do you have any nasty habits? What are they? Actually, never mind. I don’t want all the dirty details. But when you do have habits, good or bad, many of them stem from your younger years.

Let’s talk about childhood habits you need to break. Do you yet lug around a heavy backpack? How about bite your nails?  Wait, you don’t drink milk by that tun anymore, do you? We’re talking all that AND more.

1. Drinking lots of milk

It's common knowledge those days that drinking lots of milk into your adult years is unnecessary. While a cool refreshing glass being a grown-up feels great, milk consumption is especially crucial during your developing years.

After all, a single glass contains around 29% of your daily calcium intake.  From birth, children are fed breast milk. They are recommended low-fat milk after the age of two. While milk does help us build strong bones and teeth, that need for it decreases as we age.

In particular, experts claim that too much milk may actually be bad for you. A recent study conducted on 60,000 middle-aged woman and 45,000 middle-aged men, suggested that three or more glasses a day was associated with bone fractures AND mortality.

If you’re a grown adult, this evidence is compelling enough to make you want to put that third glass of milk down. Your grandfather may yet call you “kid”, but you aren’t a child anymore.

2. Carrying a heavy backpack

Much like drinking milk, those effects of taking a heavy backpack as we age are shown to be serious. Also like milk, that is something we begin doing as little ones. The backpack routine normally commences with toddlers, as they lug around tiny school bags appropriate for their size.

Over time, not only do people grow larger but so do their bags. Larger AND heavier. This becomes a problem. Did you know that most parents don’t check to the weight of their child’s backpack? Your kid could have bricks in were and you wouldn’t even know it.

Fortunately, that’s not the case. But the average kid is carrying an estimated 18.4 pounds to and from school. It is recommended that they carry no more than 10 to 20 per cent of body weight. when it’s more, the results can be devastating on their back.

Have you ever heard of “rucksack palsy”?

This condition describes the damage done to the back due to carrying heavy bags. The weight of your bags supported by the straps puts pressure onto your brachial plexus. While it’s always common with hikers and soldiers, regular backpackers can feel these effects over time.

Rucksack palsy can be characterized by numbness, tingling and overall pain during your upper body. That's normally brought on by overloading our bags. If this routine starts as children, you better believe our backs we’ll be feeling the wrath of the rucksack.

Despite ongoing warnings of this condition, more and more people are strapping heavy bags onto their backs. when carrying one is necessary, just try and lighten your load.

3. Not wearing sunscreen

There was a reason for our parents who applied our sunscreen as kids. Without them, we apparently wouldn’t have done it at all. Even when you are putting it on, you’re probably not doing it properly.  It is estimated that one in four children wear sunscreen outside.

Their sunscreen habits are normally shown to be affected by their parents. That goes on to affect them later in life. Fewer than 15% of men and 30% of women apply sunscreen to the face on the regular.

While natural sunlight is needed for our skin to survive, you need to put on the proper amount of sun protection. Trust me, you don’t want melanoma. Melanoma is a deadly type of skin cancer that can be brought on by overexposure to the sunlight.

Were you informed that five severe sunburns before the age of 20 can increase your risk of melanoma by over 80%?  So do yourself a favour and grab that bottle of sunscreen. Your day of perusing the beach with a metal detector should be done without the worry of skin cancer.

4. Biting your nails

That's one should be a given, but apparently, some of you still need a reminder. While about 50% of kids from the ages of 10 to 18 bite their nails, little did we know it is actually a sign of emotional imbalance? If we continue these habit throughout our adult years, expect several unpleasant results

This gross habit can produce nasty health issues including inflammation, infection and sickness. When you bite off significant pieces of fingernail, you leave the skin underneath exposed to harmful bacteria. This includes bacteria in your mouth. Both bacteria and pathogens can result in an infection remembered as paronychia.

This can leave your fingertips with swelling, redness and pus. To add to the problem, you can also contract a stomach virus by consuming the germs from your fingers. Not to mention bacteria can also create ingrown nails and facial warts.

Do you often get nervous? Don’t bite your nails!

5. Eating too quickly

Eating slowly can decrease the risk of heart disease and obesity. When we begin teaching them to children, they will be much healthier. It is suggested that people take longer than 20 minutes to eat their meal.

That's way, your body has time to tell your brain that you are full. Children are eating way too quickly.  In a study conducted on Japanese schoolgirls between 2008 to 2013, it was discovered that slower eating prevented obesity.

Various more studies have been done stating that despite the evidence that quick eating is terrible for children, most are eating too quickly. Without the proper education, you can easily fall victim to this habit as an adult.

The average meals last about 11 minutes. Some breakfasts and dinners are less than two minutes. It all depends on how excited your schedule is. The next time you have a large meal in front of you, take your time to enjoy it.

6. Not properly brushing

Whether you eat slowly or quickly, you still need to brush your teeth. And it kind of help when you do it properly. While children past the age of 6 are normally capable of brushing on their own, parents often neglect to inspect the condition of their teeth.

When you grow up without the proper model to follow, you may continue on with your bad brushing techniques. We’ve all been there. When you’re a child, being asked to brush your teeth is like being forced to do heavy labour. But think about these health benefits it has in the long run. 

Adults who brush their teeth typically brush to no longer than 45 seconds. This is not long enough to remove plaque. In Australia, half of the adults don’t brush their teeth more than twice a day. And if you’re a child, there is only a 1 in 3 chance that you're brushing the sufficient amount.

This is already a major issue. Were you aware that 26% of adults between the ages of 20 to 64 have untreated tooth decay? It’s time to begin brushing longer and more often.

7. Chewing on your pen

These acting of biting the end of your pencil is often therapeutic. We do it in times of the severe stress or anxiety. Sometimes, we’re also just bored. We all remember these times in science class right before the big exam. It’s terrifying. 

What better way to put your mind at ease than to nibble on the cap of your pen. Just pray the ink doesn’t burst. Even though it starts out as a juvenile past-time, the habit often carries on into our adult years. You’ve seen Terry at the office who sits in his cubicle chomping down on the end of a Bic.

He’s nervous because his report on the Johnson file isn’t ready, and it’s due at noon! Don’t be like Terry, people. Believe it or not, there are health consequences for chewing on pens. Seriously! While your busy gnawing away on your writing utensil, here’s something to consider.

Chewing your pen is a major contributor to cracked or damaged teeth. I guess too much about any food is bad for you. When that’s not enough to convince you to quit, pens also carry strains of bacteria. If it’s been passed around from person to person, it’s building up spreading potential viruses once bitten into. So if one day Terry doesn’t show up to work, you know why.

8. Constantly using your phone

This one is extremely important. Over 45% of U.S. children between 10 and 12 own smartphones, and stick to the devices like glue. For any kids watching, if you hear your parents bickering in your ear about going outside and enjoying life, try your best to listen to them.

You do not want to end up staring at your phone for the rest of your days. After all, cell phone addiction is real!  People touch their phone screens an average of 2600 times per day. That includes everything from scrolling, swiping and clicking.

When that’s not enough to convince you to give it a rest, how about this? The average person spends an estimated 3 hours and 15 minutes per day on their phones. Turn the iPhone off and go for a walk. It will clear your mind of everything happening on Twitter!

Are you still falling victim to these habits?

Have you kicked any?

Let us know in the comments below. We would love to hear from you!