The study aims to explore the experiences of adolescent girls with the onset of their first menstruation in the context of Pakistan and to highlight the sociocultural aspects that shape those experiences.

The study employs an exploratory phenomenological approach.

This study has been conducted at a public sector higher education institute, University of the Punjab, Pakistan. Female students enrolled in the first semester of the undergraduate degree programme were included in the study using a predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Data was collected from six 18 years old girls who had their menarche in the last 6 years through face-to-face in-depth interviews using a semi-structured interview guide from June 2024 to August 2024. The interviews were audio-recorded given the written consent of the participants. Transcripts were analysed thematically following Braun and Clarke’s framework.

Thematic analysis of six interviews revealed three major themes: (1) Experience of first blood: emotional, social and practical difficulties; (2) The problem of mismanagement of first menstruation and the strategies used; and (3) Restrictions during menstruations. The study found that adolescent girls are provided with little to no prior knowledge regarding menarche and menstruation that causes various complexities and vulnerabilities. The social and cultural expectations and the gendered norms construct the experiences of the adolescent girls regarding their first menstruation, while the idea of womanhood is preserved in the society by restricting, isolating and alienating the adolescent girls and modifying their conduct and behaviour accordingly.

Menarche is often experienced as distressing, secretive and isolating for adolescent girls in Pakistan. Educational interventions in families and schools are needed to provide accurate, timely information and to support girls in navigating this transition with confidence and dignity.

Adolescents living with HIV are at a high nutritional risk. Ensuring optimal nutrition and food security is fundamental for promoting the health of adolescents and youth living with HIV/AIDS (AYLHIV), preventing HIV disease progression and improving quality of life. The objective of this scoping review is to map and identify the current literature concerning nutrition and food-related interventions addressing AYLHIV.

The study will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. We will search for relevant studies in the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science and Google Scholar. We will perform additional searches of the grey literature using snowball search and citation tracking and manual searches of institutional websites. Titles and abstracts will then be screened by two independent reviewers for assessment against the inclusion criteria. Disagreements will be resolved through discussion. A data extraction form will be used to guide the data extraction.

This review will involve the collection and analysis of secondary sources that have been published and/or are publicly available. Therefore, ethics approval is not required. The results will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal, presented at scientific conferences and disseminated through digital science communication platforms.

The protocol is registered in the Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HGBKV.