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In rural Gambia, do adolescents have increased nutritional vulnerability compared to adults?

In rural Gambia, do adolescents have increased nutritional vulnerability compared to adults?
In rural Gambia, do adolescents have increased nutritional vulnerability compared to adults?
Adolescents may be particularly susceptible to malnutrition due to the energy and nutrient costs of the pubertal growth spurt. The aim of this study was to compare differences in selected markers of nutritional status between adolescents and adults in rural Gambia.

The Keneba Biobank collects cross-sectional data and samples for all consenting individuals resident in the West Kiang region of The Gambia. For this study, participants between the ages of 10 and 40 years (y) were selected (n = 4201, female 2447). Height, body mass index, body composition, haemoglobin concentration, fasting glucose concentration and blood pressure were compared using linear regression models adjusting for age, parity, season of measurement and residence, across three age groups: early adolescent (10-14.9y), late adolescent (15-19.9y) and adult (20-39.9y).

Adolescents, particularly early adolescent girls and boys, were shorter, lighter and leaner than adults. By late adolescence differences were smaller, particularly in girls where, notably, the prevalence of overweight, hypertension and impaired fasting glucose was low. Given the importance of maternal health for reproductive outcomes and intergenerational health, the results of the study, albeit with limited biomarkers available, indicate adolescent girls are no more compromised than adult women or males from the same population.
0077-8923
Schoenbuchner, S.M.
e20c0f65-3133-4598-9e3b-fc0f95551f11
Moore, Sophie E
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Johnson, William
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Ngum, Mohammed
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Sonko, Bakary
e624cf3e-51d2-4d9f-bccd-11da81ace7f1
Prentice, Ann
675810ad-8022-453c-b3a3-8afff0e1a920
Prentice, Andrew M.
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Ward, Kathryn
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Schoenbuchner, S.M.
e20c0f65-3133-4598-9e3b-fc0f95551f11
Moore, Sophie E
bea65f65-3f11-45cd-96d2-c088a18ccc55
Johnson, William
5107641f-ac1c-4f74-8980-9bd71d4282fd
Ngum, Mohammed
a73f31d9-2929-41e6-9859-2fbc44e3fd23
Sonko, Bakary
e624cf3e-51d2-4d9f-bccd-11da81ace7f1
Prentice, Ann
675810ad-8022-453c-b3a3-8afff0e1a920
Prentice, Andrew M.
6b851f61-f989-48f6-8109-9a7408254728
Ward, Kathryn
39bd4db1-c948-4e32-930e-7bec8deb54c7

Schoenbuchner, S.M., Moore, Sophie E, Johnson, William, Ngum, Mohammed, Sonko, Bakary, Prentice, Ann, Prentice, Andrew M. and Ward, Kathryn (2018) In rural Gambia, do adolescents have increased nutritional vulnerability compared to adults? Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. (doi:10.1111/nyas.13587).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Adolescents may be particularly susceptible to malnutrition due to the energy and nutrient costs of the pubertal growth spurt. The aim of this study was to compare differences in selected markers of nutritional status between adolescents and adults in rural Gambia.

The Keneba Biobank collects cross-sectional data and samples for all consenting individuals resident in the West Kiang region of The Gambia. For this study, participants between the ages of 10 and 40 years (y) were selected (n = 4201, female 2447). Height, body mass index, body composition, haemoglobin concentration, fasting glucose concentration and blood pressure were compared using linear regression models adjusting for age, parity, season of measurement and residence, across three age groups: early adolescent (10-14.9y), late adolescent (15-19.9y) and adult (20-39.9y).

Adolescents, particularly early adolescent girls and boys, were shorter, lighter and leaner than adults. By late adolescence differences were smaller, particularly in girls where, notably, the prevalence of overweight, hypertension and impaired fasting glucose was low. Given the importance of maternal health for reproductive outcomes and intergenerational health, the results of the study, albeit with limited biomarkers available, indicate adolescent girls are no more compromised than adult women or males from the same population.

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Biobank R1 20-11-17 no track (002) - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 4 December 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 March 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 416462
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/416462
ISSN: 0077-8923
PURE UUID: 8e347505-cba6-4778-a461-fa3023744dfe
ORCID for Kathryn Ward: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7034-6750

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Date deposited: 19 Dec 2017 17:30
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:02

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Contributors

Author: S.M. Schoenbuchner
Author: Sophie E Moore
Author: William Johnson
Author: Mohammed Ngum
Author: Bakary Sonko
Author: Ann Prentice
Author: Andrew M. Prentice
Author: Kathryn Ward ORCID iD

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