Parenting and Healthy Teenage Lifestyles

• Main Author: Paloma Alonso-Stuyck
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: healthy lifestyles; parenting; adolescence behavioral autonomy; discrepancy between parents and teenage children
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/15/5428

How can one promote adolescent adjustment toward a healthy lifestyle? The first step is to locate the healthy habit configuration within the family environment. The hypothesis is that, if adolescent lifestyles are assumed autonomously during adolescence, then it is very likely that they will last throughout life. How does this relate to parenting styles? After reviewing the literature of the last four decades on adolescent behavioral autonomy and scientific articles that link healthy lifestyles with parenting, several conclusions have been reached, such as the relevance of recovering the biopsychosocial richness of healthy lifestyles, the need to use a dialogue strategy to resolve discrepancies between adolescents and their parents, and the adequacy of the personalistic parenting style to promote adjusted adolescent behavioral autonomy, and with it maintain healthy lifestyles in the long term.