Children

Adolescence - the decade between 10 and 19 years of age - is a period of substantial neurological development, second only to early childhood. Adding vitamins and minerals to wheat flour, maize flour, and rice provides additional nutrients through foods adolescents are already eating.

Fortifying commonly consumed food can help prevent iron deficiency and nutritional anemia. For adolescent females of child-bearing age, fortifying with folic acid reduces the risk of brain and spine birth defects.

Nutritional Needs

Significant and rapid neural and physiological changes occur during adolescence, and billions of neural networks that affect emotional skills and physical and mental abilities are reorganized. Adolescence encompasses fast physical growth and sexual maturation combined with emotional, social and cognitive development. Adolescents have high nutrient needs to support their growth and development spurts.

Consequences of Deficiencies

Failure to meet nutritional needs impairs physical growth and development and potentially causes nutritional anemia. Girls typically start their menstrual cycles during adolescence, making them more at risk of iron deficiency. For instance while males ages 15 to 17 years old need at least 12.5 milligrams of iron per day, females of the same age need at least 20.7 milligrams of iron per day.

Regardless of gender, iron deficiency anemia reduces physical capacity and work performance. In addition, iron deficiency anemia limits cognitive development. For example, students in Iran with anemia had much lower achievement scores than healthy students.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization notes that "a sustainable healthy diet and healthy eating practices during adolescence have the potential to limit any nutritional deficits and linear-growth faltering generated during the first decade of life. Healthy practices may limit harmful behaviors contributing to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases in adulthood."

Extent of Problem

Iron deficiency anemia reduces physical capacity and work performance. It was the leading cause of years lived with disability among children and adolescents in 2013, affecting an estimated 619 million young people. Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia among adolescent girls contribute to more than 3,000,000 Disability Adjusted Life Years lost globally. One DALY can be thought of as one lost year of "healthy" life.

Meeting adolescents' nutritional needs is an investment in their development that contributes to the full participation of young people in a nation’s life. A competitive labor force, sustained economic growth, improved governance and vibrant civil societies help accelerate a nation’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, improved nutrition for adolescents would help meet Goal 2 which aims to “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and prevention and control of iodine deficiency disorders."