This obviously reeks of overdiagnosis! Plus, the study only included just over 5,000 adolescents and it is based only on self-reporting! Junk science?
How were the 5,000 plus adolescents selected? To cite from the study: "Participants were adolescents taking part in the ‘Health4Life’ health behaviour change cluster randomised controlled trial (RCT) among 71 schools across three Australian states (New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia).21,22 All adolescents aged 11-13 years, who were fluent in English, attending participating schools and had parental consent were eligible to participate." There is a strong suspicion of selection bias!
The reporting about the study and the study itself seem to check all the usual narrative checkboxes like sugar-sweetened beverages, ultra-processed food and so on.
Caveat: I did not read the study.
"A first-of-its-kind study has found that almost half, 45.6%, of Australian teenagers are living with one or more chronic diseases, including diabetes or asthma, or a developmental condition like ADHD. The study has linked these diseases and conditions to factors such as an unhealthy diet and poor mental health. ...
Overall, a staggering 45.6% of adolescents reported having at least one of the 10 chronic diseases or developmental conditions the researchers examined. The most prevalent diseases were hay fever (23.2%) and asthma (15.1%); type 2 diabetes was the least prevalent (1.0%). Of the developmental conditions, ADHD was the most prevalent at 9.4%. ..."
From the abstract:
"Objective
Amongst Australian youth, there is currently a lack of understanding of the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases and developmental conditions and links with modifiable lifestyle behaviours, mental health and other socio-demographics. This paper aims to address this gap.
Methods
Australian adolescents (N = 5014, Mage=14.7, SD=0.80) completed a self-report survey assessing noncommunicable diseases/developmental conditions, sex, socio-economic status (SES), lifestyle behaviours and mental health. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to estimate the associations between these variables. The moderating effects of sex and SES were investigated by including interaction terms in each regression model.
Results
45.6% adolescents reported ≥1 noncommunicable disease/developmental condition. Being female, consuming more sugar-sweetened beverages, ultra-processed foods, or alcohol, participating in more screen time, having depression, anxiety or psychological distress were each associated with higher rates of having at least one disease/condition (p<0.01). Sex and SES significantly moderated the associations between some lifestyle behaviours and eight diseases/conditions were examined.
Conclusion
Australian adolescents experience considerable rates of noncommunicable diseases and developmental conditions, highlighting the significance of this public health issue. ..."
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