Table 2

Databases and websites searched, search terms and inclusion/exclusion criteria

SearchDatabases/institutional websitesSearch terms
Scholarly literaturePubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, Web of ScienceNutrition-related: diet*, food*, hunger, micronutrient deficienc*, nourish*, *nutrition*, obesity, overweight, stunting, underweight, wasting
Political commitment related: accountabilit*, advoca*, agenda*, capacit*, collective action, commit*, coordination, enabling environment*, govern*, politic*, policy, policies, priorit*, stewardship, strateg*
Grey literatureEldis; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Institute for Development Studies; International Food Policy Research Institute; International Fund for Agricultural Development; Oxfam International; Save the Children; Scaling-up Nutrition; United Nations Children’s Fund; United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition; World Bank; World Food Programme; World Health Organization.
Inclusion and exclusion criteria
 Studies were included if:

  1. Published after 1990 in English.

  2. Published in a peer-reviewed journal or by an official organisation or non-government organisation with a mandate to address malnutrition.

  3. Identified and described factors shaping political commitment for nutrition at national and/or subnational levels.

  4. Involved an empirical analysis with clearly described aims, explicit use of theory or description of underlying assumptions, a clear study design and methodology including data sources, coherent statement of findings and justifiable conclusions.

 Studies were excluded if:

  1. Non-empirical (eg, commentaries, conceptual frameworks, calls to action).

  2. Focused on specific institutional (eg, school, prisons and workplaces) or clinical policy-settings (ie, not at jurisdictional level).

  • *Truncated to capture all variations of the word (eg, *nutrition* captures malnutrition, overnutrition and undernutrition).