title: SOCIOECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC VARIATION IN NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF UNDER-FIVE BANGLADESHI CHILDREN AND TREND OVER THE TWELVE-YEAR PERIOD 1996-2007.
abstract: The nutritional status of under-five-year-old children is a sensitive indicator of a country's health status as well as economic condition. The objectives of this study were to analyse trends in the nutritional status in Bangladeshi children over the period 1996-2007 and to examine the associations between nutritional and socioeconomic status variables. Bangladesh Demographic Health Surveys (BDHS) were the source of data, and a total of 16,278 children were examined. The Z-scores of the children were analysed as continuous as well as categorical variables (stunted, underweight and wasted). The socioeconomic status variables used were region, urban-rural residence, education and occupation of the parents, house type and household possession score. A series of General Linear Model and Sequential Linear and Binary Logistic Regression analyses were done to assess the relationship between demographic and socioeconomic variables and nutritional status. The trends of Z-scores were analysed by survey, as well as by child birth cohort. Region, house type, educational level of parents and household possession score showed significant associations with all three Z-scores of children after removing the effects of age, period of DHS and other explanatory variables in the model. No significant sex difference was observed between any of the Z-scores. There were improvements in mean WAZ and HAZ between 1996 and 2007 but deterioration in mean WHZ over this period. The obesity rate was below 2% in 2007, although the absolute numbers of obese children had nearly doubled in this 12-year period. Children from poorer households showed greater improvement than their better-off counterparts. The study reveals that over the years there has been substantial improvement in nutritional status of under-five children in Bangladesh and the main gains have been amongst the lower socioeconomic groups; it is also evident that malnutrition in Bangladesh is a multidimensional problem, like poverty itself, and warrants a proper policy mix and programme intervention.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Community Medicine,Ibrahim Medical College,Dhaka,Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Masuda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohsena
authors.affiliation: †Department of Biological Anthropology,University of Cambridge,UK.
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Goto
authors.affiliation: †Department of Biological Anthropology,University of Cambridge,UK.
authors.forename: C G Nicholas
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Mascie-Taylor
mesh_terms: D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003710:Demography; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009790:Occupations; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013851:Thinness; D013997:Time Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data