Background
Childhood obesity remains a critical issue globally. Successful weight loss programs must be corroborated by understanding the psychosocial context of obesity. Resilience, a positive psychology construct, may be developed to prevent or treat health behavior-related problems. However, resilience doesn’t have a universal definition.

Aim
To systematically review the existing definition of resilience in adolescents.

Method
A scoping review (ScR) of the literature (2000-2020) using Google Scholar, MEDLINE (Ovid), APA PsycInfo, Web of Science, PubMed, and CINAHL. Reference and citation tracking was performed on all articles included in the review. The framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley (2005), Peters et al. (2015), and the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological guidance for ScR guided this review.

Results
Forty-two full-text articles were included finally. For this review, resilience is defined as a positive outcome. Criteria include positive health outcomes or absence of psychopathology, social competence, positive self-concept and self-esteem, academic achievement, and success at age-appropriate developmental tasks despite risk exposure. This definition has two key constructs – 'adaptation and adjustment’ despite adversity (i.e., living in an obesogenic environment) and ‘a positive outcome’ (i.e., maintaining a healthy weight), both essential for obesity prevention. We hypothesize that some children are weight resilient and can adopt healthy eating behavior and increased physical activity without an environmental stimulus

Conclusion
Albeit a universal definition specific to each population, field, and culture would foster resilience research; it may be logical to have a contextual definition of the field or population being investigated.