Double burden of malnutrition among mothers having under-five children: a cross-sectional study in the slums of Dhaka city
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Date
2023Publisher
Brac UniversityAuthor
Shapla, Mst. Sharmin AkterMetadata
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Objective: We sought to estimate the prevalence and factors associated factors with the double
burden of malnutrition (underweight, overweight/obesity) among mothers who have children less
than 5 years of age residing in the slum areas of Dhaka city.
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional quantitative study to assess the prevalence and related
factors that affect the double burden of malnutrition including underweight, overweight/obesity
of those mothers who have children less than 5 years of age. The study was conducted in two big
slums; Dholpur slum from South Dhaka city corporations and Korail slum from North Dhaka
city corporations in Bangladesh. A total of 424 mothers who have children less than 5 years of
age were included in this analysis. The primary outcome variable was underweight and
overweight/obesity compared to normal weight as reference category, measured by mother’s
body mass index (BMI). And BMI was calculated following by dividing body weight (kg) by
total height squared (m2).
Results The overall prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity was respectively 13.4%
and 45.3% among under-five children’s mothers who were living in big slums of Dhaka city in
Bangladesh. The prevalence of both underweight and overweight/obesity was higher among
mothers of 20-29 years of age. We got significant relationship between underweight and
overweight/obesity with the mothers’ age, household monthly income, no. of children, frequency
of pregnancy, childbirth order, mode of delivery, NCD history, and food insecurity. The
associated factors of being underweight are frequency of pregnancy and food insecurity
(AOR=4.8, 95% CI: 1.2- 18.3) and (AOR=2.4, 95% CI: 1.1- 5.4) respectively. The most
significant factors of being overweight/obese are household monthly income, childbirth order,
and mode of delivery (AOR=2.7, 95% CI: 1.3– 5.9), (AOR=3.0, 95% CI: 2.0–9.0) and
(AOR=0.4, 95% CI: 0.2-0.7).
Conclusion In Bangladesh, overweight and as well as obesity have been tremendously rising but
simultaneously underweight did not fall significantly. The Ministry of Health of Bangladesh should consider these findings while whereas creating and executing health programs for the
double burden of malnutrition among mothers who have under-five years of children.