Health behaviours of 17- to 19-year olds in North East England : assessing adherence to current recommendations for young people at the adolescent-adult boundary

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Basterfield, L and Rowland, M and Rigg, R and Reilly, JJ and Janssen, X and Pearce, MS and Evans, EH and Adamson, AJ (2025) Health behaviours of 17- to 19-year olds in North East England : assessing adherence to current recommendations for young people at the adolescent-adult boundary. Perspectives in Public Health. ISSN 1757-9139 (https://doi.org/10.1177/17579139241308824)

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Abstract

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.

ORCID iDs

Basterfield, L, Rowland, M, Rigg, R, Reilly, JJ, Janssen, X ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1355-0792, Pearce, MS, Evans, EH and Adamson, AJ;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)