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. 2025 Mar 3:388:e080358.
doi: 10.1136/bmj-2024-080358.

Obstacles and opportunities for nourishing South Asia's adolescent girls

Vani Sethi  1   2 , Zivai Murira  1   2 , Hannah Gardner  1   2 , Shweta Rawal  1   2 ; South Asia Better Diets and Better Growth for Adolescent Girls Study Group
Collaborators, Affiliations

Obstacles and opportunities for nourishing South Asia's adolescent girls

Vani Sethi et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Vani Sethi and colleagues consider the barriers to implementing policies to improve the nutrition of adolescent girls in South Asia and how they can be overcome

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare the following: VS, ZM, HG, and SR are employed by or working under contract with Unicef’s Regional Office for South Asia.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
Prevalence of underweight, overweight/obesity, short stature and anaemia among adolescent girls in South Asia.3 Note: Data for short stature is not available for Afghanistan or Bhutan. Note some data points have been displaced for display. Definitions: Underweight=BMI-for-age Z score <−2 SD of WHO child growth standards median; overweight/obesity=Z score >1 SD of WHO child growth standards median; short stature=height <145 cm; anaemia=haemoglobin <110 g/L for pregnant women and <120 g/L for non-pregnant women
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Unicef. Adolescent data portal. 2022. https://data.unicef.org/adp
    1. Unicef. Undernourished and overlooked: a global nutrition crisis in adolescent girls and women. 2023. https://data.unicef.org/resources/undernourished-and-overlooked/
    1. Unicef. Nutrition in adolescent girls and barriers to effective policy action i n South Asia. Nourishing South Asia Reports. Unicef, 2025. https://www.unicef.org/rosa/reports/nutrition-adolescent-girls-and-barri...
    1. Unicef. WHO. Unicef/WHO Low birthweight (LBW) estimates, 2023. 2023. https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/low-birthweight/
    1. Ramalingaswami V, Jonsson U, Rohde J. The Asian enigma. Progress of nations. Unicef, 1996.

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