GANN's beginnings
ENN first became involved in adolescent nutrition in 2017 when we co-hosted a meeting with London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Save the Children, funded by Irish Aid, to discuss any sector needs and gaps.
A synthesis paper was prepared as a background document for the meeting, giving an overview of the state of play and highlighting key initiatives in the field that set the scene for discussions. Following the meeting, the Adolescent Interest Group (now GANN) was formed, and a specific adolescent nutrition section was created on en-net our digital global nutrition community forum.
Why has adolescent nutrition been overlooked?
In many countries and programmes, it is generally assumed that pregnant adolescent girls will be included in maternal reproductive health programmes, yet this is not always the case. Middle childhood is an even greater neglected period, often overlooked in scant advocacy and research effort around improving adolescent nutrition. Malnutrition between the ages of five and 19 years of age remain invisible as there are neither established targets nor standardised data collection systems to inform action. Additionally, young people themselves are often not including in vital conversations resulting in less effective research, policy, and programmes.
How GANN is spotlighting adolescent nutrition
Since our modest but collaborative beginnings in 2017, there has been greater attention to the issue of adolescent nutrition, both at national and international levels. There have also been efforts to increase representation of young people in decision-making and co-creation of tools and research. Our network strives to capture this momentum and propel it forward by spotlight achievements, highlighting the work of others, and fostering collaborative efforts towards a common vision.
