124 Salam Bhuttalifestyle support are effective at lowering BMI
and reducing adiposity among children and ad-
olescents, although not all interventions are ef-
fective at individual levels as it is difficult to
differentiate individual intervention from a
multicomponent intervention program [11].
School-based nutrition education interventions
to prevent and reduce obesity in children and
adolescents are effective in reducing the rates of
overweight and obesity and in increasing fruit
and vegetable consumption [12, 13]. Evidence
also suggests that combining an educational and
an environmental component might be more
preferable for school-based nutrition and physi-
cal activity interventions in some populations
[12, 13]. Parental involvement in school-based
obesity prevention interventions is often advo-
cated as important and has shown some positive
effects on children’s behaviors and behavioral
determinants. Various parental modules ad-
dressing several home-related determinants and
parenting practices related to eating and physi-
cal activity are more likely to be effective; how-
ever, the added value of parent involvement re-
mains inconclusive [14]. Weight-related health
interventions involving parent participation can
more effectively reduce BMIs of children and
adolescents, and longer interventions that in-
clude parent participation appear to have greater
success [15]. Energy intake and food choices are
more likely to be addressed in family-targeted
interventions [16]. The effect of aerobic exercise
on non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in
children and adolescents is not yet established;
however, it can decrease the percentage of body
fat and increase aerobic capacity among children
and adolescents [17].
Nutrition interventions for pregnant adoles-
cents mainly involve education regarding bal-
anced diet and consuming adequate amounts of
iron, folate, calcium and zinc along with food
provision for low-income teens to ensure appro-
priate gestational weight gain and adequate nu-
tritional intake. Nutrition intervention pro-
grams for pregnant adolescents can have positive
effects on birth outcomes due to multidisci-
plinary teams, individualized education and
counseling, home visits as well as support/dis-
cussion groups [18].Intervention Delivery and ChallengesEvidence exists in various adolescent health do-
mains including nutrition that points towards
potential benefits of these strategies; however,
their implementation, scaling up and sustain-
ability may be difficult to achieve and need care-
ful consideration. The most commonly evaluat-
ed delivery platforms for targeting children and
adolescents have by far been school-based deliv-
ery of nutrition interventions followed by home-
and community-based delivery. Very few evalu-
ations have been carried out to assess interven-
tions delivered in care settings tailored for
adolescent needs. Efforts should be made to uti-
lize health sector interfaces to cater to the ado-
lescent health and nutrition needs. It is vital that
health care providers who provide nutrition ed-
ucation and counseling have a thorough under-
standing of adolescent physical and psychoso-
cial growth and development. Health profes-
sionals should be trained to allow adequate time
to determine an adolescent’s degree of biological
maturity and level of cognitive development in
order to determine his/her individual nutrition-
al needs and the type of educational messages
that are given when counseling the adolescent.
Other sectors, including civil society bodies,
faith-based institutions and the community at
large, should also make efforts to constructively
impact adolescent health and nutrition and re-
spond to the needs of their adolescents.
In 1995, the World Health Organization
(WHO) organized a study group on program-
ming for adolescent health and development
along with the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and theKoletzko B, et al. (eds): Pediatric Nutrition in Practice. World Rev Nutr Diet. Basel, Karger, 2015, vol 113, pp 122–126
DOI: 10.1159/000367879