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Published in: Systematic Reviews 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Underweight | Protocol

Past drivers of and priorities for child undernutrition in South Asia: a mixed methods systematic review protocol

Authors: Nidhi Wali, Kingsley Agho, Andre M. N. Renzaho

Published in: Systematic Reviews | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

South Asia has one of the largest proportions of undernourished children in the world, especially stunting, wasting, and underweight as well as micronutrient deficiencies such as the deficiency of iron, vitamin A, and zinc. Undernutrition continues to pose a major threat to this region’s economic and social growth. This systematic review aims to assess the drivers and identify priorities for child undernutrition in South Asia. It aims to appraise, synthesise, and summarise literature to create an evidence base that looks at multiple faces of macro and micro child undernutrition in South Asia.

Methods

A systematic review of published and grey literature on child undernutrition, including macro and micronutrient deficiencies, in South Asia covering the period January 2000 to September 2019 will be undertaken. Studies with all relevant study designs and those published in English will be considered for inclusion. Five academic databases will be searched: CINAHL, EMBASE, PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus, in addition to various grey literature sources. The analysis will incorporate a narrative synthesis, meta-ethnography or a meta-analysis as appropriate, depending on the nature of the retrieved data. Quality of the included studies will be assessed by validated tools. The UNICEF conceptual framework on child undernutrition will be used to frame findings.

Discussion

This protocol is guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. The protocol gives an insight into the scope and parameters for the systematic review to be carried out.

Systematic review registration

The protocol was registered by the PROSPERO international prospective register of systematic reviews, reference CRD42018112696.
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
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Metadata
Title
Past drivers of and priorities for child undernutrition in South Asia: a mixed methods systematic review protocol
Authors
Nidhi Wali
Kingsley Agho
Andre M. N. Renzaho
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Systematic Reviews / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 2046-4053
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-019-1112-7

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