Multilevel, Actionable Factors Related to Adolescent Dairy Intake: A Scoping Review Guided by the Social Ecological Model.

Authors

Emily Sklar, Marcela D Radtke, Brittany Loofbourrow, Gretchen L George, Rebecca Crosby, Sheri Zidenberg-Cherr, Rachel E Scherr

Published in

Current developments in nutrition. Volume 10. Issue 7. Pages 109385. Epub Jun 01, 2026.

Abstract

Globally, adolescents are not meeting recommended nutrient or food group intakes. Adolescence is a period often characterized by rapid biological growth and increased autonomy, both of which strongly influence dietary intake, highlighting a critical stage that presents opportunities to shape healthy eating patterns. This scoping review aimed to identify actionable factors that contribute to adolescent dairy consumption patterns as a proxy for calcium adequacy, to inform future interventions and policies for improving diet-related health outcomes. A comprehensive search of PubMed, Excerpta Medica Database (Embase), Web of Science, and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature was performed in April 2025, yielding 11,691 potential articles. Following title and abstract screening conducted in duplicate, with conflicts resolved by a (MDR), data were extracted from the 181 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The Social Ecological Model (SEM) was then applied as a framework to identify the multilevel approaches related to dairy intake. Findings from this review underscore the importance of targeted interventions that encompass each sphere of SEM influence: 1) individual factors, such as nutrition knowledge and food literacy; 2) interpersonal factors, including the impact of family and peers; 3) institutional factors as with the school environment; 4) community factors comprising the availability and access to dairy foods; and 5) policies, including school-based policies and food assistance resources. There is a need for research and interventions that address the various determinants of intake across multiple levels of the SEM to support meaningful improvements in adolescents' behaviors and promote alignment with dietary recommendations. This study was registered on Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/ARP45.

PMID:
42471859
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 19 Jul 2026.

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