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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Laura BasterfieldORCiD, Maisie Rowland, Roisin Rigg, Professor Mark PearceORCiD, Professor Ashley AdamsonORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© Royal Society for Public Health 2025.Aims: Late adolescence/young adulthood represents a transition to independence, with increasing control over health behaviours (HB). However, HB data of late adolescents are often reported in wide and inconsistent age brackets, making comparisons with age-targeted guidelines difficult. We aimed to characterise important HB (body composition, physical activity (PA), diet) of late adolescents from North East England. Methods: A total of 145 17- to 19-year olds from the Gateshead Millennium Study birth cohort participated in 2017 to 2018. Measurements including height, weight, body fat, accelerometer-measured PA and sedentary behaviour, and 24-hour dietary recall were taken. Comparisons with current global age-appropriate recommendations were made for four variables: (1) 60 min moderate-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA)/day (age 17 years old) or 150 min MVPA/week (18- to 19-years old); (2) body fat (<25% for males, <30% for females); (3) free sugars <5% total energy intake; (4) five portions fruit and/or vegetables/day. Results: Most recommendations were not met: MVPA averaged 37 min/day, 20% of 17-year olds met 60 min/d, and 55% of 18- to 19-year olds met 150 min/week. About 26.5% of participants had excess body fat. Daily fruit/vegetable consumption was 2.7 portions; 12% consumed ‘5-a-day’ portions of fruit and/or vegetables, 13.5% consumed <5% energy from free sugars. Together, 43% of participants met 0/4, 44% met 1/4%, and 0% met 4/4 age-appropriate health recommendations. Conclusion: These novel empirical data reveal concerning HB in this population of late adolescents, suggesting targeted health messaging to improve HB is needed.
Author(s): Basterfield L, Rowland M, Rigg R, Reilly JJ, Janssen X, Pearce MS, Evans EH, Adamson AJ
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Perspectives in Public Health
Year: 2025
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 25/02/2025
Acceptance date: 02/04/2018
Date deposited: 31/03/2025
ISSN (print): 1757-9139
ISSN (electronic): 1757-9147
Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/17579139241308824
DOI: 10.1177/17579139241308824
Data Access Statement: Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, prior to data being added to a repository
PubMed id: 39995342
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