Adolescent nutritional status in developing countries
Kurz, K.M.
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society 55(1b): 321-331
1996
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-6651 PMID: 8832803 DOI: 10.1079/pns19960032Document Number: 299557
World interest in adolescence has grown dramatically in the past decade. Adolescents, defined by World Health Organization (1986) as persons aged 10-19 years, comprise 20% of the global population. A remarkable 84% of adolescents are in developing countries (United Nations, 1990), and their percentage there relative to other age-groups is rising (Blum, 1991). Much of the interest has been on adolescent health, focusing largely on the increasing incidence of adolescent pregnancy and sexually-transmitted disease, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Little of the attention has been on nutrition. From another disciplinary approach, there has long been interest in reducing undernutrition in developing countries. These efforts have essentially focused on children aged 0-5 years, because much growth retardation occurs during these early years, and because the benefits from healthy growth will be realized for so many years in the future. There is also a focus on pregnant women, and to some extent on lactating women, but primarily for the nutritional benefits that accrue to their young children. Within the nutrition efforts in developing countries, traditionally, attention has not been paid to adolescents. The purpose of the present review is to begin to bridge the gap between these two disciplinary areas. It seeks to inform adolescent health promoters about the nutrition concerns that should be added to their portfolio, and to inform nutrition promoters in developing countries about the advantages of an additional focus on adolescents. The review is based predominantly on results from the Nutrition of Adolescent Girls Research Program, a set of eleven studies in developing countries coordinated at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) between 1990 and 1994 and supported by the US Agency for International Development, because little other information was available (Kurz et al. 1994).