Adolescent Nutritional Patterns and Cardiovascular Risk
Summary
Adolescence represents a pivotal window for the establishment of lifelong dietary habits and the emergence of early cardiovascular risk factors. In many settings, dietary patterns among young people have shifted towards energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods, characterised by high intakes of saturated fat, free sugars and sodium, alongside low consumption of fruit, vegetables and whole grains. Such patterns contribute to rising rates of overweight, obesity, dyslipidaemia and elevated blood pressure in this age group. Micronutrient inadequacies—particularly in calcium, vitamins A and E—and excessive exposure to trans fatty acids further compromise vascular health. Behavioural determinants, including stages of change and self-efficacy, interact with socio-economic and environmental drivers to influence food choices. Given that atherogenic processes may begin in early life, understanding adolescent nutritional patterns is essential for designing interventions to curb the global burden of cardiovascular disease.
Research from Nature Portfolio
No recent Nature Portfolio content available.
Adolescent Nutritional Patterns and Cardiovascular Risk publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in adolescent nutritional patterns and cardiovascular risk across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs): Industrial formulations made predominantly from refined substances, additives and minimal whole foods, often high in energy density and low in nutritional value.
Self-efficacy: An individual's confidence in their ability to perform specific behaviours, such as adopting and maintaining healthy eating practices.
Hypertriglyceridaemia: A laboratory finding characterised by elevated concentrations of triglycerides in the blood, which is a recognised risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
References
- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Is Related to Higher Trans Fatty Acids, Sugar Intake, and Micronutrient-Impaired Status in Schoolchildren of Bahia, Brazil. Nutrients (2023).
- Stages of change and self-efficacy are related to consumption of food markers among Brazilian adolescents and young adults. Frontiers in Public Health (2023).
- ERICA: intake of macro and micronutrients of Brazilian adolescents. Revista de Saúde Pública (2016).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.