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Fast food consumption among young adolescents aged 12–15 years in 54 low- and middle-income countries
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Most countries worldwide, especially low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), are facing an increasing prevalence of fast-food consumption and multiple burdens of malnutrition among young adolescents. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of fast-food consumption among young adolescents in LMICs. METHODS: We used data from the most recent Global School-Based Student Health Survey (2009-2015), which had been collected using a standardized questionnaire. The weighted prevalence and 95% confidential intervals of fast-food consumption were calculated overall and in subgroups stratified by age, sex, and nutritional status. The pooled overall and regional estimates were obtained using a random-effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. The associated risk factors for fast-food consumption were explored using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Our study comprised 153,496 young adolescents (46.90% boys) from 54 LMICs. Overall, approximately 55.2% (51.3-59.1%) of the adolescents consumed fast food at least 1 day per week, and 10.3% (8.3-12.4%) did so 4-7 days per week. The prevalence of fast-food consumption 4-7 days per week was lowest in the Americas (8.3%; 6.7-9.9%) and highest in Southeast Asia (17.7%; 2.3-33.2%). At a country level, the prevalence was lowest in Pakistan (1.5%; 1.0-2.0%) and highest in Thailand (43.3%; 40.4-46.1%). Furthermore, in subgroups stratified by nutritional status, the prevalence was lowest in the obesity group (6.6%; 4.5-8.7%). Factors such as age, sex, BMI, food insecurity, fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, soft-drink consumption, smoking, physical activity level, and sedentary behavior level were found to be correlated with fast-food consumption. CONCLUSIONS: The identified high prevalence of fast-food consumption among young adolescents in LMICs indicates the urgent need to prioritize the implementation of healthy-diet promotion programs to improve adolescent health in these countries.
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“Adolescents in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) frequently have diets that are calorie-dense yet nutrient-deficient, marked by excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB), ultra-processed foods, and insufficient intake of FV [11–13].”
From School-based healthy eating interventions for adolescents aged 10–19 years: an umbrella review (2024) · cites this paper as [11]
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Cites
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“Notably, fast-food consumption among young adolescents in LMICs has increased significantly in recent decades [11].”
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“Consistent with our findings, another research also found that obesity was not associated with fast-food consumption among adolescents [26].”
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Cited by
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Items 101–134 of 134
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From Awareness to Action: A Mixed-Methods Study on Mindful Eating Among Adolescents
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Hypercalciuria, an Old but still Bold issue in Children
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Factors Affecting Menstrual Cycles Among Adolescents in Singaraja Bali: A Qualitative Study
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InfluentialKamaraj, N., Rajasekar, V. D., Deena, D. S., & Ezhilarasan, S. (2026) · Journal of Research in Health Sciences · doi:10.34172/jrhs.13908
Metadata
- Authors
- Li, L., Sun, N., Zhang, L., Xu, G., Liu, J., Hu, J., Zhang, Z., Lou, J., Deng, H., Shen, Z., & Han, L.
- Affiliations
- Ningbo University (CN)
- Ningbo College of Health Sciences (CN)
- Harbin Medical University (CN)
- Weifang Medical University (CN)
- Nutrition Department, Yuyao People’s Hospital, Yuyao, Zhejiang, PR China
- Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital (CN)
- Ningbo No. 2 Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Shen, Zhisen
- Han, Liyuan
- ORCID
- Venue
- Global Health Action
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2020-08-07
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1795438-1795438
- ISSN
- 1654-9716 (ISSN-L)
- 1654-9880
- PMC
- PMC7480506
- OpenAlex
- W3047735631
- Cited by
- 135
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 19 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 9.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Global Health Action (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- National Key R&D Program of China (2017YFC1310902)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1503223)
- Ningbo Health Branding Subject Fund (PPXK2018-02)
- Sanming Project of Medicine in Shenzhen (SZSM201803080)
- K.C. Wong Magna Fund of Ningbo University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Keywords
- fast food consumption, early adolescents, low- and middle-income countries, prevalence, nutritional status, obesity, food insecurity, soft drink consumption, fruit and vegetable intake, sedentary behavior, physical activity, smoking, healthy eating promotion, adolescent nutrition
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Child, Developing Countries, Diet, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Male, Nutritional Status, Risk Factors, Prevalence, Fast Foods
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