Levels and trends in child malnutrition in Bangladesh

Abstract

The study investigates the levels and trends in malnutrition for Bangladeshi children in terms of three anthropometric indices-height-for-age, weight-forheight and weight-for-age Z-scores. Complete anthropometric information were available for 6005 children under five years of age from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2004. The analysis shows that about 57 per cent of children have been suffering from one of the three forms of malnutrition-stunting, wasting and underweight. The prevalence of stunting (43 per cent) and underweight (48 per cent) was found to be still above the threshold of "very high" prevalence which is a great concern for the entire country. Median height and weight of Bangladeshi children were found far from the NCHS reference median and stayed along the path of-2 standard deviations (SD) level. The trends in child malnutrition confirm a slow but progressive reduction in the level of stunting, wasting, and underweight during 1985-2004. Prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight decreased by about 35 per cent, 12 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively during 1990-2004. However, the prevalence of stunting and underweight lay above the threshold of "very high" prevalence over the entire period. Even though the trends show a steady decline, there were considerable differences in the rates of decline across residence, region, age of child and mother's education.