Magazine 2013
International Peer-Reviewed Journal
RH, VOL. 3 JULY 2013
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Lifestyle And Behavioral
Pattern Of The Youth
Anubha Mehta
ABSTRACT
India is amongst the youngest country in the world where youth forms a large section of the
population and have diverse needs and interests. Youth are full of energy, have significant drive and
new ideas. They are a positive force and are responsible for its future productivity provided they develop
in a healthy manner. The objective of this survey was to explore and understand the lifestyle and
behavioural pattern of the youth. The survey was conducted on 50 respondents of both genders with
the help of a questionnaire with multiple choice questions. It was observed that today’s youth are
internet savvy, highly influenced by western foods, fashion and culture, yet they are Indian at heart.
Keywords - Lifestyle, Behaviour, Youth, Fashion, Eating Habits, Education.
Introduction
Hey!!wassup… this is the most common talk of the day, but by whom? It’s by the youngster, “The
Youth”. The term youth refers to the persons who are no longer children and not yet adults. It’s the time of life
between childhood and maturity.
Lifestyle, the word comprises of two complimentary words: “Life” and “Style”. Lifestyle is the way a
person lives. This includes patterns of social relations, consumption, education, entertainment and attire. The
term lifestyle also reflects an individual’s attitude, beliefs and essentially the way the person is perceived by
himself / herself, and at the same time, also how he / she is perceived by others.
Behaviour refers to the range of actions and reactions exhibited by humans which are influenced by
culture, attitudes, emotions, values and ethics. It also means a response to certain stimuli which is observable
either by studying the response of people to their immediate environment or their reactions and attitudes. In
other words, behaviour is a function of both, the person and the environment surrounding him.
As per the 2001 Census of India, population age of 15 to 24 years accounts for 195 million of the 1,029
million of the India’s population. In other words, every fifth person in India belongs to the age group of 15 to 24
years. This population is identified by the United Nations Population Fund (United Nations, 2009) as youth or
the youth population.
The youth are critical for the continued economic development and demographic evolution of the nation.
This study was conducted keeping the youth’s lifestyle and behaviour in focus, as today’s youth has changed
in comparison with the youth in the past, taking into consideration their eating habits, sports and recreational
activities, clothing and also their way of dealing with social relationships.
Objectives
1
2
.
.
To identify the lifestyle of youth with regards to their eating habits, fashion, technology and education.
To understand the behavioural pattern of the youth with respect to recreation, sports, social relationships
and their opinion for marriage.
Methodlogy
Methodology adopted for the study was descriptive survey method.
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International Peer-Reviewed Journal
SAMPLE FOR THE STUDY
RH, VOL. 3 JULY 2013
•
Fifty youngsters comprising of both the genders (age group 18 to 24 years) were randomly taken as the
sample for the present study from various areas of Central Mumbai.
•
Tool Used
Self-developed questionnaire
suited to the objectives of the study
was used for collecting the data. The
questionnaire included multiple choice
questions based on various aspects
of the lifestyle and behaviour of the
youth.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The following conclusions were
derived based on the various facets of the lifestyle and behavioural pattern of the youth.
Eating Habits
It was observed that 48% youngsters were fond of eating mainly the junk food in restaurants and hotels
rather than at home. 64% youngsters had a taste for Chinese foods over south Indian, Punjabi and other Indian
foods. It was reflected in the study that 36% respondents had a preference of eating outside twice in a month,
as large numbers of restaurants and eating joints, serving variety of cuisines have opened up. Today’s youth like
to have readily available fast foods which is time saving for them, but which may have less nutritive value and
may have adverse effects on their health. The youngsters prefer to have their meals at the places suggested by
their friends, as they consider it to be a status symbol
in their group.
Fashion
Youth’s attire in the twenty first century has also
changed a lot. The study reflected that only 30%
respondents preferred to dress up in Indian traditional
clothesand majority of 48% of the youth were
influenced by western culture and preferred to dress
in western attire like jeans, capris, shorts and skirts
as they found it to be very comfortable and according
to the latest fashion trends. Also, 22% of the respondents would prefer to dress up according to the changing
trends of fashions, as they wanted to stand out from the normal crowd and look different.
Technology
The study incredibly shows that 90% of the
youth today are techno savvy and keep themselves
updated with the new generation technology. They
think that internet is very helpful and fun to
communicate and learn. They spend their maximum
spare time surfing the internet, updating their
Facebook status, uploading photographs, chatting,
adding new friends, whatsapp, etcwhich makes
them feel socially connected. Thus, Youngsters of
today are “technology generation”.
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International Peer-Reviewed Journal
RH, VOL. 3 JULY 2013
Recreation, sports and exercises / Pastime activities
The study reveals that youngsters are more
influenced by their peers, as 64% of the youth prefer
watching movies with their friends rather than with their
families. It was also observed that40% of today’s youth
prefer to watch comedy over family oriented and crime
related programmes. An adverse effect which was seen
in the study was that 72% of the youngsters do not have
time to exercise and play outside, as they spend most
of their time in front of the television and computer. Young people choose less healthy kind of entertainment
putting away sports and exercise in the corner.
Education
In the survey it was found that majority of the youth opted for higher education, as they realised the
importance of education for their better and successful future ahead. However, 84% youngsters do not prefer to
combine work with education, as they wish to concentrate on completingtheir education for getting highly paid
jobs later.
Social Relationships
As stated earlier, that youth is influenced by their peers, however still, 66% of the teens take support of
their parents in taking important decisions of their lives because they give priority to their family. However, there
are many conflicts and differences of opinion because of the generation gap between the parents and their
children. They differ in thinking related to food, fashion, clothing, making friends, entertainment and ways of
spending money and time.
Opinion with regards to marriage
In the study it was questioned, whether they would prefer to have a love marriage or an arranged marriage.
It was interesting to find that respondents were equally balanced with regards to their response, 50% for
arranged marriage and 50% for love marriage. They believed that their families would find a suitable match for
them according to their choice, in case of arranged marriage.The other half of the respondents in favour of love
marriage, were of a different opinion that finding the right person by themselves would lead to a happy and
successful life ahead, as they would already know the person better and they could choose a person from their
own stream having like-minded thoughts.
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International Peer-Reviewed Journal
Majority of young females in the sample
wished to have a marriage between the age
limit of 22 to 25 years and would prefer to
work even after the marriage to support the
family and create their own status, so that
they do not have to be dependent on their
spouses to fulfil their needs financially.
RH, VOL. 3 JULY 2013
Conclusion
The survey was essentially carried out
to understand the lifestyle and the
behavioural patterns of the youth – how they
are ,what do they wear, what they prefer to
eat, watch, play, talk, live and their attitudes
towards changing trends.
It was observed that today’s youth are internet savvy, highly influenced by the western food, fashion and
culture, yet they areIndian at heart.
It was concluded that even though peers play a major role in shaping the behaviour of the youth, yet the
family always remains the priority for them inspite of various differences of opinion between the youth and their
parents.
Youth constitutes substantial section of the population, their physical, mental and spiritual health determines
the current and future vitality of the country. It should be the endeavour of the family, the colleges and other
groups associated with the development of the youth, to ensure that through programmes of education and
guidance, they are made aware of the imperatives of healthy lifestyle for their growth and development, specially
in the context of harmonious family life, education and career opportunities and fostering and nurturing of
meaningful social relationships.
All in all, it can be stated that lifestyle of youth depends on many factors and it is important to realize and
address their lifestyle and behavioural patterns. Further research studies should be carried out to highlight
issues of concern and to deliver their possible solutions.
References
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Agochiya, D. Life Competencies for Adolescents, New Delhi: SAGE Publications Ltd, 2010. Print.
Khanka, S.S. Organizational Behaviour, New Delhi: S.Chand & Co Ltd, 2004. Print.
Tinaikar, S. Life-style Management, New Delhi: UBS Publishers’ Distributors Ltd, 2000. Print.
Webliography
http://www.livestrong.com/article/330565-how-to-obtain-a-healthy-lifestyle.
http://www.healthcommunities.com/adolescent-safety/children/lifestyle-risks.html.
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