Nutritional status of under-five children in Bangladesh: a multilevel analysis.
The nutritional status of under-five children is a sensitive sign of a country's health status as well as economic condition. This study investigated the differential impact of some demographic, socioeconomic, environmental and health-related factors on the nutritional status among under-five children in Bangladesh using Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2007 data. Two-level random intercept binary logistic regression models were used to identify the determinants of under-five malnutrition. The analyses revealed that 16% of the children were severely stunted and 25% were moderately stunted. Among the children under five years of age 3% were severely wasted and 14% were moderately wasted. Furthermore, 11% of the children were severely underweight and 28% were moderately underweight. The main contributing factors for under-five malnutrition were found to be child's age, mother's education, father's education, father's occupation, family wealth index, currently breast-feeding, place of delivery and division. Significant community-level variations were found in the analyses.
Department of Agricultural Statistics, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh-2202, Bangladesh.
Jahangir
J
Alom
Md Abdul
MA
Quddus
Mohammad Amirul
MA
Islam
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009752:Nutritional Status; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology