Adolescent girls with current possible symptoms of ED presented lower total energy intake and several micronutrients intake compared with their peers without ED.

DEB can present at any age and was not confined to adolescence.

Undernutrition is a growing public health challenge affecting growth and development during adolescence in many low- and middle-income countries. This scoping review maps the evidence on adolescent undernutrition (stunting, thinness and micronutrient deficiencies) in South Asia and highlights gaps in knowledge. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual, the search included electronic bibliographic databases (Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Scopus) as well as various grey literature sources published up to March 2019. In total, 131 publications met the inclusion criteria of this review. All the included evidence used quantitative data and 115 publications used a cross-sectional design. Nearly 70% (n=86) of the included publications were conducted in India. Prevalence of undernutrition was reported based on different growth references and cut-offs. Evidence is divided into publications that included an intervention component (n=12) and publications that did not include an intervention component (n=116), and presented in a narrative synthesis. This scoping review provides a wide range of publications on adolescent undernutrition in South Asia and identifies future research priorities in the field.

IntroductionThe aim of the protocol is to present the methodology of a scoping review that aims to synthesise up-to-date evidence on adolescent undernutrition in South Asia.Methods and analysisThe proposed scoping review will be guided by Arksey and O’Malley’s framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers’ Manual. The scoping review question, eligibility criteria and search strategy will be based on the Population, Concept and Context strategy. We will conduct the search in electronic bibliographic databases (Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Scopus) as well as various grey literature sources in order to synthesise and present the findings with descriptive statistics and a narrative description of both quantitative and qualitative evidence.Ethics and disseminationThis study protocol does not require ethical approval. This protocol will accurately describe the proposed scoping review that will map the evidence on adolescent undernutrition in South Asia. The proposed review aims to gather published and unpublished literature to inform policy and healthcare organisations as well as identify future research priorities in South Asia.