HYDERABAD: Food advertisements, the rising cost of nutritious food and gaps in nutrition literacy are significantly shaping what adolescents eat in India, according to a large nationwide study that surveyed nearly `1.44 lakh adolescents across 36 states and union territories. The findings point to an urgent need for stronger nutrition education, clearer food labelling and food environments that make healthy choices easier.
The study was conducted by researchers from the Public Health Foundation of India, the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Deakin University in Australia and UNICEF India. Adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years participated through UNICEF’s U-Report digital platform and offline school-based surveys conducted after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.
Advertising a powerful driver
One of the most striking findings of the study is the influence of marketing on young people’s food choices. As many as 67.6% of adolescents said food advertisements affect what they eat.
The study noted that despite existing regulations and industry self-regulatory codes, adolescents continue to be exposed to aggressive marketing of unhealthy foods, highlighting gaps in enforcement and lack of policy coherence.
Cost block healthy choices
Although awareness about healthy eating is present, affordability remains a major obstacle. About 30.7% of adolescents said they cannot eat healthy food because it is too expensive, while 10.6% reported that healthy options are not easily available. Another 10.5% pointed to a lack of variety in healthy foods.
Taste also plays a role in food choices, with 15.3% saying they avoid healthy food because they do not find it tasty. Researchers said this underscores the need to make nutritious food more appealing through better preparation methods, improved school meals and community-level interventions.
Encouragingly, 72.6% of adolescents said they want nutrition information on packaged foods. However, 62.8% felt it is very important to simplify and highlight nutrient information, indicating that current food labels are difficult to understand.
Nearly 49.5% of adolescents said they receive most of their nutrition information from schools, followed by online sources (20.8%) and home (15.1%). This, researchers said, reinforces the importance of integrating strong, evidence-based nutrition education into school curricula.
The study said evidence generated by NIN and similar institutions should be used to tighten food advertising regulations for children and adolescents, improve front-of-pack nutrition labelling and ensure affordable access to healthy foods.
It stressed that improving adolescent diets requires a multi-level approach combining individual awareness, supportive environments, market regulation, policy reform.
With India being home to the world’s largest adolescent population, the study warned that failure to act now could significantly deepen the future burden of lifestyle diseases.