Association between unhealthy snack food and beverage consumption and the nutritional status of Nepalese children and adolescents: A systematic review

by Rameshwor Parajuli, Wilna Oldewage-Theron, Surya Raj Niraula Introduction Eating habits have changed significantly over the past few decades, with consumers favoring unhealthy snack foods and beverages over traditional foods. This trend has shifted dietary patterns in developed and industrialized countries.

However, this trend now also affects low- and middle-income countries, such as Nepal. Nepal is facing poverty, food insecurity, undernutrition like stunting and wasting, and also overweight and obesity during recent years among children and adolescents.

The primary aim of this review is to assess the association between the consumption of unhealthy snack foods and beverages and the nutritional status of children and adolescents in urban, peri-urban, and rural Nepal. Materials and methods Electronic databases like PubMed, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus were used to undertake a thorough desk-based searching of the literature.

The literature was chosen using a number of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The selected publications were gathered, appraised for quality assessment, and results synthesized from studies.