Food is always close by: Why availability alone doesn’t explain adolescent diets in Viet Nam
Healthy and unhealthy foods are equally accessible to adolescents in Viet Nam, a study shows. Food options were available close to adolescents’ homes and schools
By Gabriela Fretes, Nicholus Zaw, Phuong Nguyen, Agnes Le Port, Kim Maasen, Elise Talsma, Mai Tuyet Truong, Trang TT Tran, Inge D. Brouwer, Marie Ruel, and Jef L. LeroyOctober 6, 2026
Key takeaways
- ·Healthy and unhealthy foods are equally accessible to adolescents in Viet Nam, a study shows. Food options were available close to adolescents’ homes and schools.
- ·School food environments were not less healthy than those around homes. Both offered a similar mix of healthy and unhealthy foods.
- Demand-side policies can help steer healthier eating. Clear labels, restrictions on marketing of unhealthy foods, and taxes on sugary drinks may be more effective than focusing only on availability.
Third in a series. Read the first post here and the second here.
Adolescence is a pivotal period for nutrition and health when young people begin to make more of their own decisions about what, where, and when to eat. Across low- and middle-income countries, adolescent development is now occurring alongside rapid changes in food environments—the places where people purchase and consume food—driven mainly by urbanization. These shifts often make unhealthy options such as ultra-processed snacks and other foods high in added sugar, saturated fats, and salt more convenient, affordable, and desirable.