The oldest members of Generation Z are still years away from turning 30, but their fears about so-called “rapid aging” have exploded on social media like a premature time bomb.
Whether or not Gen Z, ages 12 to 27, is actually on an accelerating path to wrinkles, gray hair, and reading glasses, experts at Northeastern University believe that people of all ages can improve their body, mind, and body. He says there are many habits you can practice to stay mentally young.
Does stress age you like milk?
Gen Z’s smoldering fears about aging came to a full boil with internet personality Jordan Howlett’s mildly humorous post about being mistaken for his mother’s older brother, even though he’s only 26 years old.
I’m aging like milk
In posts like “I’m aging like milk,” the bearded Howlett talks about stress and how 50-something Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson mistook him for a colleague. talking.
There’s no denying that Gen Z faces unique challenges in terms of the stress of social isolation and economic uncertainty as they enter adulthood during a pandemic.
Dr. Carmen Seppa, dean of Northeastern University’s Bouvet College of Health Sciences, said stress releases toxins that affect aging, and good health habits build physiological resilience that maximizes youthfulness and strength. He added that he could.
By practicing mental resilience, Gen Z may be a particularly resilient generation, says Kristen Lee, a professor of behavioral science at Northeastern University.
Strength and flexibility are themselves synonymous with youth.
But maximum resilience doesn’t come from competing for the perfect image on social media, says Rachel Rogers, an associate professor of applied psychology at Northeastern University.
Social media wants to make you feel old
Unsurprisingly, body image expert Rogers advises Gen Z to take the filtered images they see on social media for real life drugs and stay away from interactions that lead to sales of anti-aging products. I am.
Gen Z’s grandmothers may have seen incredibly beautiful celebrities profiled in magazine articles or advertisements, but when they turned the page, the images disappeared.
No more.
Social media’s consumerism algorithms are designed to get people to buy products, and clicking on one anti-aging YouTube or Instagram account means you’ll be bombarded with more, Rogers said. says.
“One of the things that’s different from previous forms of media is the way it responds to engagement,” she says.
“We have an underlying goal of increasing user engagement, because that’s how we make money. This is where we can expand our customer social base.”
Even knowing that, Rogers was a little surprised to see how many young people volunteered to participate in the research her team was conducting about their experiences with anti-aging products and services.
“We thought we were going to collect responses primarily from a middle-aged group,” Rogers said.
“Many of the people who responded to our survey were in their early 20s. This was something they were already thinking about,” she says.
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Filtered friend and peer pressure
Of course, it’s not just the picturesque celebrities and influencers that appear in Gen Z’s feeds.
Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat accounts are filled with filtered images of friends, dorm mates, and acquaintances, leaving users feeling like they’re the only people on earth with acne or forehead wrinkles.
“There’s a lot of peer pressure,” Seppa said.
This may not be limited to social media, but may be related to the social issue of jobs that pay enough to buy a home or live alone becoming increasingly unaffordable. There is sex.
“They want to achieve successful careers and tend to compare themselves to others. There is a psychosocial component to the pressures Gen Z experiences. Peer pressure accelerates aging. “It’s a stress factor that activates hormones and toxins,” Seppa says.
Dehydration, processed foods, lack of sleep
Toxins are fueled by dehydration, improper nutrition and lack of sleep, and Gen Z may be setting records in these areas, Seppa says.
Among her students, there is an increased reliance on caffeine and coffee consumption, a tendency to make do with a few hours of sleep for studying, video games, and parties, and processed foods conveniently delivered to their homes. I have seen that people are dependent on it.
Alcohol also contributes to dehydration, and lack of exercise or too much exercise can prevent you from maintaining muscle mass. Muscle mass is an important tissue that contributes to metabolic health, and begins to decline after the age of 30. This reduction has been observed in clinical studies, including her own research. Aging healthy, says Seppa.
“If your muscle mass isn’t strong and healthy, a downward spiral occurs,” she says.
“Muscle can be built through exercise and proper nutrition in the form of animal or vegetable protein,” says Seppa.
“But you have to plan for it,” she says. Generation Z is busy multitasking and trying to maintain an edge in life, which combined with poor eating habits, lack of exercise, dehydration, and sleep deprivation ultimately result in unhealthy alternatives to successful aging. There is a possibility.
The solution, Seppa says, is to focus on a healthy diet in the form of high-quality animal or vegetable protein, essential fats, complex carbohydrates, fiber, and water.
loneliness gets old
Many of the meals delivered from these dorms are eaten alone in front of a screen, rather than in the hall with friends and acquaintances.
And if it increases a person’s feelings of loneliness, that in itself can be a risk for premature aging.
Feeling unhappy, depressed, and lonely may accelerate the aging process faster than smoking, a study published in 2022 suggests.
And a study released in January 2020 found that even before the coronavirus pandemic began, more young working people were feeling lonely.
According to Cigna research, social media users were the loneliest.
Building a community
Lee says there is a “cult of overachievement” among young people that undermines their sense of belonging.
But even though various market forces encourage Gen Z to declare their individuality by buying hot shoes or hotter cars, her students are struggling with financial or other constraints. We strive to reimagine what it means to be successful on the surface.
“Students are not only concerned about themselves, but also each other. They really want the world to be more just and just,” Lee says. “It’s reassuring.”
The very hardships Gen Z has faced, from economic challenges to the social isolation of the pandemic in their formative years, may help them become more resilient, says “Microdose Courage Worth the Risk.” says Lee, a resilience expert who wrote the book “How to.” Become more resilient, be more connected, and offer more of yourself to the world. ”
“Thinking about what is working well in our lives, what resources are available to us, and how we can nourish our minds and bodies” takes some time and focus. It may take a lot of effort, she says.
But Lee says there’s value in unlocking the joy and vitality in life that is virtually synonymous with youth.
Overcoming suffering “helps you have a new spirit,” she says, and that’s true at any age.
