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Adolescent and young women face grave nutrition challenges, but limited evidence exists on solutions to improve their diets. Action‐research was done over 3 years (2020–2022) in secondary cities of Colombia (Medellin) and Vietnam (Thai Nguyen) to identify nutrient deficits in adolescent and young women diets; elaborate food‐based recommendations to improve their nutritional status using Optifood linear programming; and engage respondents in incorporating suggested recommendations to their diet using a Social Innovation Challenge approach. A total of 1001 respondents were interviewed in Vietnam, 793 in Colombia. The probability of nutrient inadequacy in both locations was highest for iron and calcium, followed by the risk of deficiency for several other vitamins and minerals. Social Innovation Challenge teams (11 in Vietnam, 9 in Colombia) were created and supported in developing solutions to improve diets and tackle those deficiencies. Awards and resources were transferred to the most promising solutions to enable their implementation. Pre/post measurements of the interventions' impact using the Global Diet Quality Score as outcome metric showed significant improvement in the diets of Challenge participants. After introducing a series of companion articles that offer detailed results on those various steps, this paper draws strategic lessons from an action‐research perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultra‐processed foods (UPFs) are associated with deterioration in dietary quality and the development of chronic diseases. The NOVA score, developed in Brazil to assess UPF consumption quickly and inexpensively, is adapted and validated here using a sample of 203 young women from Medellín, Colombia. Food consumption was evaluated using 24‐hour dietary recall and with the NOVA‐UPF score. Food items were classified using the NOVA categories. The energy consumed from UPFs and its percentage of the total energy consumed was estimated. The association between the NOVA‐UPF score and the percentage of energy from UPF (%UPF/E) was evaluated. Both variables were categorized into quintiles and concordance was estimated using prevalence and bias‐adjusted kappa (PABAK). A regression model was used to assess the association between the NOVA‐UPF score and critical nutrients. The mean NOVA‐UPF score among study participants was 4.5, with 27% of the total energy they consumed coming from UPFs. There was a positive, linear association between the NOVA‐UPF score and %UPF/E (p < 0.001) and substantial agreement (PABAK = 0.75) in the classification of participants between UPF energy quintiles and NOVA‐UPF score quintiles. The NOVA‐UPF score was positively and significantly associated with sodium, total fat, and saturated fat intake. We conclude that the adapted NOVA‐UPF score may help monitor the consumption of UPFs among young women in Medellín. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During adolescence, many young people gain greater food choice agency but also become increasingly exposed and susceptible to environmental pressures that influence their food choices. This coincides with increased nutritional needs, especially for girls. In urban Colombia, adolescent diets are often high in undesirable foods and low in nutritious foods, contributing to overweight and micronutrient deficiencies. This study aimed to explore the potential of improving diet quality using food‐based recommendations (FBRs) within the parameters of local food systems and adolescents' existing dietary patterns to inform context‐specific programmatic responses to malnutrition. We applied linear programming analysis to dietary data from 13‐ to 20‐year‐old girls in Medellin to identify problem nutrients, local micronutrient sources, and promising FBRs. Iron and, to a lesser extent, calcium targets were difficult to meet using optimized diets based on local foods, especially for 13‐ to 17‐year‐olds. High habitual consumption of foods with excessive salt, fat, or sugar provided >5% of micronutrients in optimized diets. Otherwise, significant micronutrient sources included legumes, meat, dairy, bread, potatoes, and fruit. FBRs met targets for 10 micronutrients but only 32%–39% recommended nutrient intake for iron. FBRs, including occasionally consumed foods and supplements, met all intake targets for less cost, indicating a need to increase access to nutrient‐dense products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]