Nourishing adolescents to build a smart future generation
The Smart Bangladesh Vision by 2041 set a new target for Bangladesh, and the Perspective Plan 2021–2041 defined the economic and social targets. Human resources will be key to achieving the vision, and adolescents are an important element in the development eco-system to become instrumental towards leading the country in 2041.
The UN Decade of Action (2021–2030) promotes a multi-sectorial approach to fighting malnutrition in all its forms and addresses all people everywhere, particularly women and youth, as key stakeholders for success. The poor diets of the estimated 1.2 billion adolescents in the world put this critical population at risk. Adolescents in low- and middle-income countries experience the multiple effects of malnutrition, including the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity along with the persistently high rates of underweight, micronutrient deficiencies, and protein-energy malnutrition.
Bangladesh has over 32 million adolescents; of these, some 50% (16+ million) suffer from poor eating, resulting in stunting or obesity. Moreover, one-fourth of the adolescent girls aged 15–19 years are stunted. The proportion of adolescent height less than 145 cm (cut off-level for height) has remained unchanged since 2011. The percentage of women aged 20–24 who have had a live birth before age 18 was 24% (BDHS 2017–18). Key factors contributing to this situation, among others, are poverty and food insecurity, insufficient access to basic social services such as health, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), as well as poor dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy and a lack of nutrition knowledge.
The Bangladesh Institute of ICT in Development (BIID) Foundation, a social business initiative in Bangladesh, launched the Nutrition Clubs (NCs) initiative in 2015 to give adolescents and young people a platform to enhance their nutrition knowledge, promote healthy eating habits, and disseminate nutrition knowledge within their households, schools, and communities, as well as engage in nutrition-related activities. BIID, in collaboration with the Department of ICT (DoICT), ICT Division, has been working to scale up the Nutrition Club initiative across the network of Sheikh Russell Digital Lab (SRDL) and introduce e-learning on nutrition, online competitions, leadership camps, etc.
In parallel, to promote youth and adolescent engagement in nutrition education and expand their network on a national level, BIID initiated the Nutrition Olympiad (NO) in 2017. Over the course of six consecutive years (2017–2022), this event garnered significant national interest and brought attention to the importance of adolescent nutrition. To elevate the Olympiad to a global platform as the International Nutrition Olympiad, the BIID Foundation is working with various stakeholders. INO has turned into a unique and inclusive platform for adolescents and youth to exchange knowledge, demonstrate, and challenge knowledge on nutrition to improve their nutritional status by engaging them to develop and execute local-level solutions. INO also fosters a voice for adolescent-friendly food security and nutrition policy at the national and global levels.
Considering the recent explosion of digital technologies and adolescents's engagement in social media, NC can explore more diverse uses of digital nutrition solutions to stimulate increased interest. Adolescents would benefit double from the hands-on learning experiences bundled with online-based services at their fingertips.
Initiatives like Nutrition Clubs and International Nutrition Olympiad (INO) can foster healthier adolescents and families by providing engaging learning experiences using proven government, research-based, and UN-approved materials and facilitating more innovative approaches to get the adolescents engaged and owned. Building smart Bangladesh can only be achieved with well-nourished adolescents with the right cognitive skills and better health.
The writer is the CEO of the BIID Foundation.
Email: shahid.akbar@biid.org.bd