Adolescent nutrition
Background
Adolescence is a time of rapid change in physical growth and development and cognitive and emotional capacities. There has rightly, been much emphasis on early childhood nutrition. However, adolescence is an additional important phase of risks and opportunities for healthy nutrition with lifelong and intergenerational consequences. Despite this, adolescents have been neglected in national and global plans and policies.
This Lancet Series of three papers and three commentaries is the first to bring the health and nutrition communities together to focus on growth and nutrition across the adolescent years. It extends calls from the 2016 Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing and a 2018 Call to Action, signed by over 100 organizations, to address a neglect of adolescent nutrition in policy.
The series highlights the effect of nutrition on adolescent growth and development, the role the food environment has on food choices, and which strategies and interventions might lead to healthy adolescent nutrition and growth.
Paper 1: Nutrition in adolescent growth and development
Lead authors: Professor Shane Norris and Professor Edward Frongillo Jr
This paper highlights the role of nutrition in the growth and maturation of major physiological systems in adolescence. Poor nutrition affects the physical and cognitive capabilities acquired with consequences for health and productivity across the life-course, and into the next generation. The paper also highlights gaps in knowledge including a focus on single facets of adolescent growth rather than the inter-connections between physiological systems. Read the paper.
Paper 2: Food choice in transition: adolescent autonomy, agency, and the food environment
Lead author: Dr Lynnette Neufeld
This paper addresses the drivers of food choices, exploring the interactions among adolescent agency, autonomy, cultural context, and the food environment. The diversity and quality of available and affordable food differs vasty across countries, as does the scope for dietary choice. Food environments are shifting quickly almost everywhere with economic development, urbanisation, and changes in the food industry and agriculture. They may offer adolescents more food options, but social desirability, convenience, taste, and affordability rather than nutritional value commonly determine food choice. Read the paper.
Paper 3: Strategies and interventions for healthy adolescent growth, nutrition, and development
Lead authors: Dr Dougal Hargreaves, Emily Mates and Dr Purnima Menon
This paper examines the actions needed to create healthy adolescent food environments, including the roles that young people themselves may play in enhancing nutrition. To date, adolescent programs have overwhelmingly emphasised single actions, such as weekly iron folic acid supplementation, rather than tackling the multiple drivers of adolescent food choice and nutritional status. Adolescent nutrition policy and programming will differ across food environments but in all places, needs to be intersectoral, with action across schools, social protection, health services, food retailers, local communities and families. Read the paper.
Translated recommendations
Forecasting paper: Modelling trends in adolescent obesity, implications for population health, and potential impacts of interventions to 2040
Lead authors: Dr Jess Kerr, Dr Dot Dumuid, Kate Francis, A/Prof Peter Azzopardi, Professor George Patton
This paper, will (1) provide contemporary estimates of the prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity for adolescents at global, regional and national levels and describe transitions that have occurred since 1990 to 2017; (2) model the implications of these contemporary overweight and obesity estimates on population health and disease burden, and (3) model the prevalence of adolescent overweight and obesity to 2040 and demonstrate how projected prevalence could change through for example intervention to diet and/or increases in physical activity.
This paper is currently on hold.
Youth and education friendly resources
Working with Science Journal for Kids & Teens, papers 1 and 2 have been adapted for students and teachers (as well as parents and/or guardians). Science Journal for Kids & Teens features freely downloadable peer-reviewed research papers rewritten in age-appropriate language. Each paper is accompanied by assessment questions and answers / teacher’s key.
How does the food you eat affect your growth and development?
Hungry? Should you eat an apple or potato chips? Does it really matter? It turns out that what you eat as a child and adolescent affects your growth and development. It can also affect your health as an adult! We reviewed different scientific studies to understand the link between nutrition and adolescent growth. We found that not eating enough food, eating the wrong foods, and eating too much food all affect the body’s systems. We also learned that the negative effects of poor nutrition aren’t permanent if they’re corrected at the right time.
Also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish (accessible via the above link).
With subtitles available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.
What makes you choose the food you eat?
What makes you choose the food you eat?Have you ever thought about why you eat what you eat? Is it because it’s tasty? Healthy? Trendy? There are many factors that influence what an adolescent eats. But health is not always the most important one. We wanted to better understand these factors. So, we did a scientific review of surveys and studies to see what adolescents eat worldwide. We also explored how economic status and food environments affect food choices. We learned that many adolescents value food as a way to express their individuality. It also gives them a sense of belonging with their peers. We also discovered that limited access to healthy food is a problem in many areas, as are advertisements promoting unhealthy food. That is why countries all over the world need nutrition programs that make healthy food more available, affordable, and appealing to adolescents.
Also available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish (accessible via the above link).
With subtitles available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish.
Youth voices on adolescent nutrition
Events
On Tuesday 6th December 2022, Nourishing our future: young people’s potential to shape sustainable food environments. This hybrid event was an official side event of the 22nd International Congress of Nutrition (ICN) hosted in Tokyo, Japan from December 6-11, 2022.
This event brought together leading young advocates, scientists and thought leaders to discuss the implications of the Lancet Series on Adolescent Nutrition, and the multi-sectoral actions required (including young people’s involvement) to enable effective policy and programmatic responses for sustainable food environments.
The recording of this event is available via https://vimeo.com/user150756001/iunsyouth.
On Thursday 20th October 2022, Nourishing our future: young people’s opportunity to shape the future of food. This virtual event was an official side event of the World Food Forum (WFF) Flagship Event hosted in Rome, Italy from October 17-21, 2022.
This event brought together leading young advocates and thought leaders to draw upon the Lancet Series on Adolescent Nutrition and discuss the importance of adolescent nutrition, the drivers of adolescent food choice, and young people’s opportunity to shape the future of food.
The recording of this event is available via https://vimeo.com/user150756001/wff.
On Tuesday 30th November 2021, the Lancet Series on Adolescent Nutrition was successfully launched with a virtual 90-minute event. Co-hosted by the Lancet, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute the launch was an official side event of the Nutrition for Growth Summit.
The recording of the launch is available on the Lancet YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA3ltauk-oE.
Podcast | Food for the Future
The World Food Forum in collaboration with Kitchen Connection chat with young change makers in the food industry in this innovative podcast, Food for the Future | Podcast on Spotify.
Surabhi Dogra, a passionate advocate and contributor to the Series, shares her insights on adolescent nutrition in Episode 6, Adolescent nutrition, healthy diets, and climate change.
Further information
For further information or if you would like to embed any of these recordings, please email cah.info@mcri.edu.au for authorization.
All the recordings and videos are available to watch here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/adolescentnutrition
We have developed an Adolescent Nutrition information sheet available here – https://doi.org/10.25374/MCRI.24083112.v1
Series co-leads
- Professor George Patton, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia
- Dr Lynnette Neufeld, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Switzerland
- Professor Shane Norris, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
- Professor Edward Frongillo Jr, University of South Carolina, USA
- Dr Dougal Hargreaves, Imperial College London, UK
- Dr Purnima Menon, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), India
- Emily Mates, Emergency Nutrition Network, UK
- Mariam Naguib, Youth Commissioner, Lancet Standing Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, Canada
- Shanshan He, Youth Commissioner, Lancet Standing Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, China
- Surabhi Dogra, Youth Commissioner, Lancet Standing Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing, India
Series coordinator
- Molly O’Sullivan, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Australia
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Series co-leads, as well as Sophie Healy-Thow, Mike Khunga, Tanya Dimitrova and the Science Journal for Kids team Pele Voncujovi, Kim Anastasiou, Oisin Gill, Tomoko Kato, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World Food Forum (WFF).
Animations were produced by the Video & Animation Production Company (The VAPCO).
The adolescent nutrition series received funding support from Fondation Botnar and Wellcome.
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