Nutrition in adolescent growth and development

Abstract

During adolescence, growth and development are transformative with profound consequences for later-life health, and for the children today’s adolescents will eventually parent. This adolescent generation is growing up at a time of unprecedented change in food environments: older nutritional problems of micronutrient deficiency and food insecurity persist, and overweight and obesity are burgeoning. In a context of pervasive policy neglect, a failure to invest in research, compared to other age-groups, has inhibited the development of adolescent-responsive nutritional policies. One consequence has been the lack of an integrated perspective on adolescent growth and development and the role that nutrition plays. Through later childhood and early adolescence nutrition plays a formative role in the timing and pattern of puberty, with consequences for adult height, muscle and fat mass accrual, and non-communicable disease risks. Adolescent nutritional effects extend beyond musculoskeletal growth, to cardio-respiratory fitness, neurodevelopment and immunity. High rates of early pregnancy in many countries continue to jeopardize the growth and nutrition of girls, with consequences that extend to the next generation. Adolescence is a nutrition-sensitive phase for growth and later non-communicable disease risks, where the benefits of good nutrition extend to many other physiological systems.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Shane Norris: orcid.org/0000-0001-7124-3788

ORCID for Caroline Fall: orcid.org/0000-0003-4402-5552

ORCID for Kate Ward: orcid.org/0000-0001-7034-6750

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