Nutritional Status of Under-Five Children of Chattogram Hill Tracts

Authors

  • Farzana Zafreen Associate Professor & Head, Department of Community Medicine, Medical College for Women and Hospital, Uttara, Dhaka
  • Md Mustafizur Rahman Commandant, Armed Forces Medical College, Dhaka
  • Md Habibur Rahman Professor of Medicine, AFMC, Dhaka
  • Md Abdul Wahab Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Armed Forces Medical College, Dhaka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3329/jafmc.v14i1.42715

Keywords:

Under-five children, Nutritional status, Chattogram hill-tract

Abstract

Introduction: Adequate nutrition during infancy and early childhood is fundamental to the development of child’s full human potentials. Malnutrition is recognized as one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality among the children under- five years and developing countries are the worst affected.

Objectives: To assess the nutritional status of under-five children of selected area of Chattogram hill tracts of Bangladesh.

Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 children with age between 6 months to 5 years, reported to the outpatients department of selected hospitals were included purposively. All the data were collected by interviewing the mothers of the children by using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Nutritional status was assessed by using WHO recommended height for age Z-score (HAZ) for stunting, weight for age Z-score (WAZ) for underweight, height for weight Z-score (HWZ) for wasting and mid upper am circumference (MUAC) for overall nutritional status.

Results: Out of 300 children 53.3% were boys and 48.4% were aged less than 2 years. About 50.7% children were tribal and 49.3% were bengali. Majority (56.45%) of the children’s mothers’ age was below 25 years, 36.7% was illiterate, 92.7% were housewives and 85.6% had monthly family income less than 10,000 taka. Regarding children nutritional status 15.6% was moderate stunted, 30.7% was mild stunted; severe, moderate and mild underweight was 4.3%, 13.3% and 24.7% respectively. About 1.7% was found severe wasted and 15.3% was moderate wasted. By MUAC 20.3% were of moderate acute malnutrition and 3.3% were of severe acute malnutrition.

Conclusion: This study result revealed a high prevalence of malnutrition among under-five children in the study area. Considering the acute and long-term consequences of malnutrition special interventions program is needed to overcome the situation.

Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.14(1) 2018: 21-23

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Published

2019-08-22

How to Cite

Zafreen, F., Rahman, M. M., Rahman, M. H., & Wahab, M. A. (2019). Nutritional Status of Under-Five Children of Chattogram Hill Tracts. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College, Bangladesh, 14(1), 21–23. https://doi.org/10.3329/jafmc.v14i1.42715

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2018)

Section

Original Papers

License

Submission of a manuscript for publication implies the transfer of the copyright from the author to the publisher upon acceptance. Accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the Journal of Armed Forces Medical College and may not be reproduced by any means in whole or in part without the written consent of the publisher.