title: Determinants of age-specific undernutrition in children aged less than 2 years-the Bangladesh context.
abstract: Globally, undernutrition affects nearly half of all children aged less than 5 years. It is more prominent in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the age-specific risk factors for different categories of undernutrition among Bangladeshi children aged less than 2 years. Data of 10,291 children aged less than 2 years were collected between October 2011 to November 2013 through the Food Security Nutritional Surveillance Project in Bangladesh. Simple logistic regression established bivariate relationships between the categories of undernutrition and the relevant risk factors. Multiple logistic regression constructed the age-specific regression models depicting the independent association and effect size of the risk factors contributing to the various categories of undernutrition among study population. Stunting was prevalent among 30.9% of the study children, whereas 9.7% were wasted and 24.9% were underweight. Being a male child, increase in age, maternal body mass index and education, and household food insecurity were the strongest predictors for all categories of undernutrition in terms of effect size. Our study shows that the different categories of childhood undernutrition have different age-specific risk factors. Maternal body mass index and household food insecurity were the common age-specific risk factors for all categories of undernutrition. We expect our findings to enhance the existing evidence base for the risk factors of undernutrition among children aged less than 2 years.
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Nuzhat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Choudhury
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Mohammad Jyoti
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Raihan
authors.affiliation: James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Sabiha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.affiliation: Family Health International 360, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Zeba
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Mahmud
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Fahmida Dil
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Farzana
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Md Ahshanul
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Haque
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ahmed Shafiqur
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Helen Keller International, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Jillian L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Waid
authors.affiliation: James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Ahmed Mushtaque Raza
authors.initials: AMR
authors.lastname: Chowdhury
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Centre for Global Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Black
authors.affiliation: Nutrition and Clinical Services Division, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.|James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
authors.forename: Tahmeed
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahmed
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000453:epidemiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011203:Poverty; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018401:Sample Size; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019282:Wasting Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Bangladesh; food insecurity; stunting; undernutrition; underweight; wasting