## 3 Results  
The seven studies included in the review clearly articulated the research questions that each of the studies set out to answer. Databases in the medical and social sciences fields were searched using relevant search terms to find studies that met the inclusion criteria for the current review. A clear description of the different target populations and sample selection procedures were provided by all of the studies. The studies used either the 24-h recall questionnaire or the QFFQ to collect dietary intake. BMI-for-age, triceps skinfold thickness, and sum of skinfold thicknesses were used to measure adiposity. The dietary intake assessment methods used present a risk of bias because they do not offer an integrated assessment of nutrient status and they could present the risk of reporting error from the participants selectively reporting their dietary intake, or from not always being able to recall the quantities or all of the foods consumed. To limit heterogeneity, adjustment for potential confounding within studies was performed. A total of 56 studies were retrieved through database searches and were reported using a PRISMA flow chart (Figure 1) [10]. The study titles and abstracts were screened, and after removing duplicates and studies deemed not eligible from the records, seven of the studies were deemed eligible for inclusion. The researchers focused on published studies; therefore, unpublished research might have been omitted during the data collection process. Table 1 presents the seven studies that met the inclusion criteria. These studies were published between 2004 and 2021 [16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22]. The number of female adolescent participants  
varied across the studies, ranging from 156 to 3490. Most of the studies focused on participants in the early adolescence stage, typically aged 11 to 15 years [16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22]. However, two studies included participants in the middle and late stages of adolescence, aged 16 to 21 years [17; 18; 20]. All of the seven studies [16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22] used body mass index for age (BMI-for-age) as a proxy or indicator for overweight or obesity among adolescents. In addition to BMI-for-age, the two studies conducted by [PERSON] and colleagues [20; 22] also used triceps skinfold thickness (TSF) and sum of skinfold thicknesses (SST) to further determine overweight/obesity in adolescents. Regarding dietary intake, four studies covered this aspect. One study employed a quantitative food frequency questionnaire (QFFQ) [17], while the remaining three studies utilized a structured 24-h recall questionnaire [21; 22; 23]. [PERSON] and colleagues explored the relationship between dietary patterns, sociodemographic variables, lifestyle factors, and body mass index among rural black South African adolescents [17]. In this study, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to 25 nutrients derived from quantified food frequency questionnaires (QFFQs). However, it is important to note that the use of PCA involves subjective decision-making during interpretation, name patterns, choice of variables, data transformation or standardization, number of components, and threshold for factor loadings used. [PERSON] conducted two studies--one investigating the causes of overweight and obesity among schoolchildren in the North West Province of South Africa, and the other examining the differences in body composition between stunted and non-stunted adolescent girls [23]. Only physical activity was found to be significantly associated with obesity in post-menarcheal girls. [PERSON] and [PERSON] investigated the dietary intake and nutritional status of adolescent girls and young women in Durban, KwaZulu Natal (KZN), South Africa [22]. The study, however, did not look at the day-to-day variations of the participant's dietary intakes. [PERSON] et al., and [PERSON] et al. employed interviewer-assisted questionnaires to gather information on food choices, eating practices, and dietary habits of adolescents [18; 19].