Document Type

Article

Publication Title

The Journal of Nutrition

Publication Date

10-30-2025

Abstract/ Summary

School-age years (5–19 y) are a critical development period, bridging early childhood and adulthood. Nutrition during this stage is essential for supporting physical, cognitive, and socioemotional/psychological well-being. Moreover, nutritional status in these years has lasting effects on lifelong health, well-being, productivity, and human capital. In 2022, the National Institutes of Health “Biomarkers of Nutrition for Development: Knowledge Indicating Dietary Sufficiency (BOND-KIDS)” Project was launched to explore how to advance the assessment and impact of nutrition programs and policies for school-age children. The aim of this study is to use an ecological approach and available evidence to develop actionable tools for policymakers and program planners that support the design, implementation, and evaluation of equitable, effective, and scalable nutrition programs for school-age children. The BOND-KIDS project convened 4 expert working groups (WGs) to explore biological, environmental, assessment, and implementation dimensions of nutrition during school-age years. WG4 focused on translation and implementation and applied an ecological lens to identify strategies that are fair, effective, and adaptable to meet the needs of communities. WG4 developed 2 tools to support effective nutrition programming for school-age children: 1) a set of 6 overarching principles—equity, developmental relevance, transdisciplinary collaboration, contextual adaptation, sustainability, and systems thinking, and 2) the BOND-KIDS implementation framework. Together, these tools serve as resources for designing, implementing, and evaluating the process and outcomes of nutrition interventions and programs across diverse settings and populations. Strategic investment in nutrition during school-age years is necessary to secure early gains, enable catch-up growth, enhance cognitive development, promote long-term health, and optimize individual and societal productivity. Using the overarching principles and the BOND-KIDS implementation framework can ensure that programs achieve their goals—promoting early nutrition gains, supporting catch-up growth, enhancing cognitive development, and driving human capital transformation.

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