Cognition and the Lifespan
Optimizing and maintaining cognitive performance throughout the lifespan impacts overall quality of life. While the prenatal and infancy life-stages are critical for nutrition and cognition, less attention has been paid to adolescence.

Has Adolescence Been Overlooked?
The IAFNS Cognitive Health Committee is interested in focusing on adolescence, a life stage of potential outsized impact for later life brain health. Looking into what is known, the committee was not able to identify this same type of evidence reviews for adolescence as exists for the prenatal and infancy stages. This applies to both examining effects of nutrients consumed during adolescence on cognitive performance at that age, or later in life. And a 2022 study in The Lancet concluded that adolescence has been overlooked as a critical growth period.

Are There Evidence Reviews?
There do not appear to be other systematic evidence reviews on the topic of the role of nutrient intake, cognitive development and performance during adolescence — or effects of nutrients in adolescence on cognition later in life. Yet, we know the teen years are key to “fine-tuning” how the brain works, especially as many researchers now say the brain is not fully formed and functioning until age 25.

Adolescent Eating Patterns
We also know that adolescents “eat differently.” Their eating patterns can be erratic and easily influenced by peers and the environment. At the same time, nutrition and dietary behaviors at this life stage may have implications for life-long eating and health.

Bringing it All Together
To highlight opportunities to learn more about the impact of nutrition during adolescence, the IAFNS committee initiated a systematic review. As more attention is focused on the importance of cognitive health by public health authorities, consumers, and the food industry, stakeholders are interested in evidence-based dietary guidance to support and optimize brain health. This review will provide an one-stop inventory of what is known about nutrition in adolescence and cognitive health, and will point to opportunities for additional research that will support future dietary guidance.

Join the Effort
Join IAFNS Cognitive Health Committee to advance science. Together, we can drive positive change and improve public health.