Adolescent undernutrition in South Asia: a scoping review

Abstract

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.

Stunting and Underweight among Adolescent Girls of Indigenous Communities in Telangana, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Also, it is to be noted that the prevalence of overweight was not a problem among the sample of adolescent girls and there were no participants classified as solely overweight in the early adolescent group, while a small proportion (0.56%) of late adolescents fell into this category. Similar trends were founds in the case of NFHS-4 and studies from other regions of India [ 11 , 59 , 60 ]. Therefore, addressing the identified variations in prevalence rates can aid in the development of targeted interventions and policies to improve the overall nutritional well-being of this population.…”

“Good Food Causes Good Effects and Bad Food Causes Bad Effects”: Awareness, Meanings and Perceptions of Malnutrition among Pakistani Adolescents Living in Slums through Photodiaries and Interviews

“…Health and nutritional surveys in South Asia have mainly focused on malnutrition among children under five years old and women of reproductive age [ 5 ]. Although adolescence provides a window of opportunity for improving nutrition [ 6 ], the burden of malnutrition among adolescents remains unattended and insufficiently investigated in LMICs [ 7 ], particularity in slum settings [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…Adolescent malnutrition has been traditionally investigated using quantitative approaches [ 8 ] despite the efforts of international agencies in highlighting the importance of using qualitative approaches with adolescent populations [ 18 , 19 ]. Qualitative methods have been employed to investigate health care providers’ and caregivers’ awareness and perspectives on childhood malnutrition in LMIC [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 ] and in slum settings [ 24 , 25 , 26 ].…”