Final answer:
Common dietary inadequacies in adolescence include high levels of malnutrition, consumption of refined carbohydrates and lack of plant fiber, as well as an increasing rate of obesity.
Step-by-step explanation:
Some of the most common micronutrient deficiencies worldwide are iron, vitamin A, and iodine deficiencies. Iron deficiency causes anemia, which in childhood can lead to permanent cognitive and motor deficits. Vitamin A deficiency can weaken the immune system, contribute to anemia, and cause blindness. Iodine deficiency leads to inadequate thyroid hormone, causing goiter and hypothyroidism in adults and intellectual disability in children.
The vast majority of undernutrition globally occurs because people do not have enough nutritious food to eat. Although there is enough food to meet the needs of the global human population, the food is unevenly distributed and for many people inaccessible because of poverty. Caused by poverty, undernutrition also contributes to poverty because of its effects on health, growth, development, and ultimately on the ability to work and earn income.