A review published in the Journal of Nutrition examines how nutrition among children and adolescents is shaped by a broader ecology that includes factors beyond individual diet. The paper, part of the Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency—BOND-KIDS—Project, focuses on school-aged children and adolescents, groups that have received less research attention compared to early childhood.
The authors discuss how nutrition interacts with larger systems such as climate, geopolitics, and food systems, as well as more immediate influences like community food environments, health and social services, and school nutrition policies. These are all mediated through family contexts.
According to the review, these multiple levels influence growth, physical and mental health, cognitive and socioemotional development, physical activity, school attendance, and behavior among children. The authors note important gaps in research about how nutrition interventions work across three developmental stages: primary school age (5–9 years), early adolescence (10–14 years), and late adolescence (15–19 years). They argue that an ecological framework is necessary for accurately assessing nutrition interventions and improving outcomes.
The team included Maureen M. Black from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and RTI International; Meg M. Bruening from The Pennsylvania State University; Amy Carroll-Scott from Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health; Jayna M. Dave from USDA/ARS Children’s Nutrition Research Center and Baylor College of Medicine; Kristie L. Ebi from the University of Washington; Lora L. Iannotti from Washington University in St. Louis; Susan L. Johnson from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; Lorrene D. Ritchie from the Nutrition Policy Institute at UC Agriculture and Natural Resources; Elizabeth Y. Jimenez from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center; Alison L. Steiber from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics; and Daniel J. Raiten from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH.
The BOND-KIDS project was started by NICHD’s Pediatric Growth and Nutrition Branch in partnership with organizations including the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Global Research Consortium for School Health & Nutrition, as well as the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics. Federal funding came partly through USDA Agricultural Research Service Cooperative Agreement no. 3092-51000-058-2S along with USDA/NIFA grant 2021-68012-3399.
“The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver NICHD or the NIH,” according to those involved in producing this supplement.
