These are the biggest health threats to African millennials

Inemesit Udodiong

November 13, 2018 11:21 PM

Young people have at least five major health issues they need to pay attention to.

A lot of African millennials think they are in the best and healthy time of their lives. Unknown to them, their young age and current era make them vulnerable to health issues like obesity and depression. Here are the biggest health threats to African millennials:

STIs

Africa.com reports that STIs are on the rise among African millennials. This may be due to the fact that people are still willing to have unprotected sex, not one but multiple partners. This makes sexually transmitted diseases a major concern for young people.

Depression

Once a shunned subject, depression has become a very popular topic since it has grown into a serious health threat amongst young people. Recent statistics from Forbes have show that 14 out of 21 saddest countries in the world are from Africa.

This is due to unemployment amongst the youth, the high cost of living, isolation, the comparison that can come from using social media. This silent killer has led to many cases of suicide.

ALSO READ: 5 mental health disorders every Nigerian millennial should know about

Stress

Contrary to the popular notion that young people are lazy, studies have shown that millennials might just have the highest stress levels. In fact, the American Psychology Association (APA) reported in their annual Stress in America survey that millennials are the most stressed generation.

The result of all of this stress is regular migraine, body pains, general fatigue, insomnia, anxiety, irritability or anger and once again depression.

Obesity

Computer-related and tech-savvy jobs like digital media journalism, blogging, I.T. which are becoming very popular amongst millennials have one thing in common- a sedentary lifestyle (this involves an excessive amount of daily sitting). One of the side effects of this lifestyle is weight gain or obesity.

This lifestyle can also result in a decrease in skeletal muscle mass, and 'text neck' which can cause spinal problems.