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Prevalence of undernutrition in Bangladeshi children

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2019

Md. Sazedur Rahman Open the ORCID record for Md. Sazedur Rahman [Opens in a new window] ,
Md. Ashfikur Rahman ,
Md. Maniruzzaman  and
Md. Hasan Howlader
Md. Sazedur Rahman*
Affiliation:
Statistics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Md. Ashfikur Rahman
Affiliation:
Development Studies Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Md. Maniruzzaman
Affiliation:
Statistics Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
Md. Hasan Howlader
Affiliation:
Development Studies Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh
*
*Corresponding author. Email: sazedur.stat@gmail.com
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Abstract

Child undernutrition is a major public health problem throughout the world, particularly in developing countries. The main objective of this study was to identify the risk factors for acute undernutrition among under-5 children in Bangladesh. Data were taken from the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic Health and Survey conducted in 2014. The study sample comprised 7131 under-5 children. Of these, 4.6% were found to be severely wasted (Z-score < −3.0), 11.1% moderately wasted (−3.0≤Z-score < −2.0) and 84.3% adequately nourished (Z-score ≥−2.0). Chi-squared analysis was used to investigate the association between child nutrition status and selected covariates. Multinomial logistic regression was applied to identify the risk factors for acute undernutrition. The selected factors division, place of residence, sex of child, place of delivery, child age, respiratory illness, size at birth, measles vaccination, fever, diarrhoea, maternal BMI, maternal education, paternal occupation, wealth index and household toilet facilities were found to be highly significant (p < 0.05) in the analysis. Multinomial regression analysis revealed that residence in Barisal and Chittagong divisions, a smaller than average size at birth and low maternal BMI (≤18.50 kg/m2) were significant determinants of both moderate and severe acute undernutrition among under-5 children in Bangladesh.

Keywords

Acute undernutritionWeight-for-ageWasting
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , July 2020 , pp. 596 - 609
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019

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