Surprising causes behind teen headaches
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If your teenager suffers regular headaches, research from Norway suggests the triggers may be less obvious than you might assume.
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- Surprising causes behind teen headaches
If your teenager suffers regular headaches, research from Norway suggests the triggers may be less obvious than you might assume.
The school year is back in full swing, and stress — both the good and the challenging kind — will likely fall a touch heavier on your teen’s shoulders.
Does this naturally equate to more headaches?
Some parents may assume so; however findings from the HUNT Research Centre at the University of Norway suggest that regular headaches are more likely to occur among teens with poor lifestyle habits. Stress was not found to be an indicator.
The Centre conducted a large-scale study of almost 6,000 students aged from 13 and 18. Nurses interviewed each teenager and took height and weight measurements.
Of the group, 36 per cent of girls and 21 per cent of boys reported recurrent headaches. The researchers discovered that lifestyle factors increased the occurrence of headaches by 3.4 times, including being overweight, smoking and getting little exercise.
As the American Academy of Neurology reports, “Overweight teens were 40 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches than those with no negative [lifestyle] factors.
“Teens who smoked were 50 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches, and teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches than those who exercised at least twice a week and had no other negative factors.”
The Centre says that thus far, in researching teen headaches, lifestyle factors have largely gone unexplored.
Results suggest that treating the condition should include management of healthy habits such a regular exercise and making healthy food choices, says study author Dr John-Anker Zwart, PhD.
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