Health, Relationships and Lifestyle

Following a healthy lifestyle is really important and can help you cope with the changes that happen during your teenage years. Benefits of being active include:

• Improved fitness – regular exercise gives us more energy and strength and helps us stay a healthy weight
• Improved mood – exercise releases ‘happy hormones’ which make us feel good
• Improved sleep – being physically active during the day helps us sleep better at night

Following a healthy, well-balanced diet is really important too. When you have BBS it’s really important to be careful about the size of the portions you eat and fill your plate up with vegetables or salad. You should limit your intake of fizzy drinks, fruit juice and fast food. Your BBS healthcare team includes a dietitian who will treat you as an individual and work with you to identify possible diet and lifestyle changes and set achievable goals.

I’m really into sports and when I found out I had BBS, I didn’t think playing sports would be possible. However, a whole new world opened up for me after I went along to a vision impaired cricket event. I won the best new player award at my first match.

Puberty

Adolescence is a time when your body starts to go through lots of changes and your emotions can sometimes feel out of control. Puberty is the name for the time when your body begins to develop, and physical changes take place as you change from a child to a young adult. During puberty, your body will grow faster than at any other time in your life, except for when you were a baby. You may start to feel irritable or moody and feel like no one understands you.

Everyone with BBS is an individual and puberty begins at different times for everyone. These changes and feelings are perfectly normal. Your parents/carers and healthcare team can help you to cope with the changes that will be happening to you. You may have lots of questions about the changes that are happening to you and about relationships and sex. Some adults are not comfortable talking about relationships and sex, but you can access information at school, from your GP, or family planning clinic.