Diet Quality Among Older Adolescent Boys and Girls in the Southeast Asia Region

Adolescence is a period of tremendous physical and neurophysiological change, and today's rapidly changing food system has implications for adolescent nutritional and health outcomes. Ensuring nutritious diets during adolescence requires evidence on what is being consumed by adolescent boys and girls, however, little is known about the dietary patterns among this age group. This study assessed the prevalence of food group consumption and indicators of diet quality among adolescents in the Southeast Asia region and compared these results to the adult population. Secondary analysis of the Gallup World Poll, a population-based survey, was performed using datasets from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos PDR, the Philippines and Vietnam. Pooled analysis of nine diet quality indicators was conducted among all adolescents 15-19 years of age (n = 479), with comparison to the adult population (n = 4589). Various unhealthy food groups were consumed by one-quarter to one-half of adolescents, with a greater proportion of adolescents consuming instant noodles, sweets, processed meats and salty snacks, as compared to adults. Just over one-third of adolescents (37.4%) consumed all five recommended food groups to meet dietary guidelines, almost two-thirds (62.6%) consumed sweet beverages and over three-quarters consumed unhealthy/ultra-processed foods (76.8%). Overall indicators of diet quality showed that Southeast Asian adolescents' diets were less healthy than adults. This is one of the first studies to explore the healthy and unhealthy aspects of diets among both adolescent boys and girls across the Southeast Asia region, with results indicating that diets are not nutritionally adequate.