SAMRC Developmental Pathways for Health Research Unit, Department of Paediatrics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Global Health Research Institute, School of Health and Human Development, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA.
Lancet. 2022 Jan 8;399(10320):172-184. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01590-7. Epub 2021 Nov 29.
During adolescence, growth and development are transformative and have profound consequences on an individual's health in later life, as well as the health of any potential children. The current generation of adolescents is growing up at a time of unprecedented change in food environments, whereby nutritional problems of micronutrient deficiency and food insecurity persist, and overweight and obesity are burgeoning. In a context of pervasive policy neglect, research on nutrition during adolescence specifically has been underinvested, compared with such research in other age groups, which has inhibited the development of adolescent-responsive nutritional policies. One consequence has been the absence of an integrated perspective on adolescent growth and development, and the role that nutrition plays. Through late childhood and early adolescence, nutrition has a formative role in the timing and pattern of puberty, with consequences for adult height, muscle, and fat mass accrual, as well as risk of non-communicable diseases in later life. Nutritional effects in adolescent development extend beyond musculoskeletal growth, to cardiorespiratory fitness, neurodevelopment, and immunity. High rates of early adolescent pregnancy in many countries continue to jeopardise the growth and nutrition of female adolescents, with consequences that extend to the next generation. Adolescence is a nutrition-sensitive phase for growth, in which the benefits of good nutrition extend to many other physiological systems.
在青春期，生长和发育是具有变革性的，对个体以后的健康以及任何潜在孩子的健康都有着深远的影响。当前这一代青少年正处于食品环境发生前所未有的变化的时期，营养问题依然存在微量营养素缺乏和粮食不安全，超重和肥胖问题也在不断涌现。在普遍忽视政策的背景下，与其他年龄组的研究相比，针对青少年营养的研究投入不足，这阻碍了制定针对青少年的营养政策。其结果之一是缺乏对青少年生长和发育以及营养所起作用的综合认识。在儿童后期和青春期早期，营养在青春期的时间和模式上起着形成作用，对成年身高、肌肉和脂肪量的积累以及以后生活中非传染性疾病的风险都有影响。营养在青少年发育中的作用不仅限于骨骼生长，还包括心肺健康、神经发育和免疫。许多国家青少年怀孕率较高，继续危及少女的生长和营养，对下一代也有影响。青春期是生长的营养敏感阶段，良好营养的益处可扩展到许多其他生理系统。
