Submitted to: Journal of Nutrition
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/9/2025
Publication Date: 10/13/2025
Citation: Black, M.M., Bruening, M.M., Carroll-Scott, A., Dave, J.M., Ebi, K.L., Iannotti, L.L., Johnson, S.L., Ritchie, L.D., Jimenez, E.Y., Steiber, A.L., Raiten, D.J. 2025. Understanding the nutrition ecology and related distal and proximal research gaps impacting school-aged children's and adolescents' functioning - a report from the "Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency (BOND-KIDS)" Project Working Group 2. Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.10.020.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.10.020

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Nutrition is critical to the health, development, and well-being of children and adolescents, operating through nutrients and the social and physical influences of dietary behaviors. Child and adolescent growth and development depend on complex biological systems interacting with the nutrition ecology. Here we focus on bi-directional interactions with the multi-level nutrition ecology, including distal systems (climate, geopolitical, food systems), and proximal systems (community food options; health, social, and food services; and school policies and programs), all mediated by the family. Thus, the impact of nutrition on children's and adolescents' functional outcomes is dependent on understanding the multilevel nutrition ecology. Interdependencies between the nutrition ecology and children's health, development, and well-being have been examined during early childhood, with limited attention to corresponding relations among school-age children and adolescents. This age grouping represents 3 unique developmental phases: primary school-age (pre-puberty; approximately 5-9 years of age), early adolescence (puberty; approximately 10-14 years of age), and late adolescence (post-puberty; approximately 15-19 years of age). The 4-paper "Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency: BOND-KIDS" Project series builds the evidence for why and how an ecological approach is needed to assess and interpret the impact of interventions to improve the nutritional status and functional development of children and adolescents during these 3 developmental periods. This paper synthesizes the environmental evidence underlying children's nutrition and responses to interventions, with specific attention to how distal and proximal environments impact nutrition and school-age children’s and adolescents' functioning, including growth, physical and mental health, cognition, socio-emotional development, physical activity, and school attendance and behavior.