The two factors affecting the health and social outcome of groups in Article (i) and (ii) are gender and socioeconomic status (SES) respectively.
The adolescents in Article (i) are not practicing good health behaviours as they have a lack of physical activity. The girls have a higher prevalence of insufficient physical activity compared to the boys. This is due to their difference in gender. Females do not like to exercise as they are concerned about factors like sweat, odour, and worry about gaining muscles which will make them look too masculine and not feminine. Males and females also have different physical and biological attributes. Females are physically less fit than males as they have lower cardio-respiratory fitness, lesser stamina and strength, poorer eye-hand coordination, and more body fat, thus lowering their self-efficacy in exercising. A lower perceived proficiency in exercising leads to females thinking that exercise will not bring a lot of benefits to their body. Therefore, female’s motivation level for exercising will be lower, which leads to a higher prevalence of insufficient physical activity compared to boys.
Children from lower socio-economic backgrounds in Article (ii) are not practicing good health behaviours as they have a poor diet. They eat lesser nutritious food and more unhealthy food such as processed and fast food compared to children from higher socio-economic backgrounds. This is due to the cost of food and their family’s ability to afford nutritious food. Low socio-economic backgrounds mean that they only look for food that are filling and satisfy their hunger; food high in energy and do not have the economic means to adopt a healthier diet. High energy food they consume like refined grains, food high in sugar and fat are not healthy but they cost lesser and are more affordable than nutrient-rich food like fish, fruits, vegetables which are very costly. In conclusion, the children from lower socio-economic backgrounds do not have much budget for food and since they are cost-constraint, they have lesser abilities to get a healthier diet and thus rely on low-cost food which are unhealthy to survive.
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