Reducing nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases in adolescence and youth: interventions and policies to boost nutrition fluency and diet quality in Africa

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a major public health problem, resulting in over 70% of global deaths each year; the majority (85%) of deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries.

While cost-effective, evidence-based best practices are available, implementation of these interventions has remained a critical challenge, particularly ones targeted at promoting health behaviors among adolescents and youth.

Despite the importance, few studies have been undertaken to identify the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of evidence-based interventions that promote healthy behaviors among adolescents and youth in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). ""Reducing nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases in adolescence and youth: From nutrition literacy to fluency"" will take a major step towards improving the implementation of evidence-based interventions – nutrition education and SSB policy - that promote healthy behaviors among adolescents and youth in SSA to reduce the impact of NCDs.

With the use of a multi-disciplinary approach, innovative design, and cutting-edge tools, the proposed project aims to establish a global alliance to prevent and reduce nutrition-related NCDs among adolescence and youth in SSA region, by shaping individuals’ health behaviors through nutrition literacy and fluency, assessing the impact and performance of the nutrition-related policy and promotion programs, and providing flexible, cost-effective, scalable, reliable, secure and easy-to-use tools.

The establishment of an Africa Think Tank for Adolescents and Youth Health, and annual forums will help facilitate continuous engagement with key stakeholders to enhance buy-in, acceptance and relevance of the project outputs.

Ultimately, the expected wider effects of this project include improved NCD prevention policy adoption and implementation, improved policies and evidence-informed decision making amongst key stakeholders, and ultimately decreased avoidable mortality due to NCDs.