A total of 15 percent infants up to three months old are underweight, a study revealed . The study ‘State of Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh 2012’ funded by the European Union and jointly conducted by BRAC University and Helen Keller International on Wednesday revealed the information at a city hotel.
Though Bangladesh continues to make steady progress in child nutrition and household food security, but more attention should be paid to reduce the adolescent pregnancy rate, it said. “Bangladesh is at double risk with nutrition – under nutrition and overweight”, Country Director of Helen Keller International, Erica Khetran told BSS.
“Young, malnourished mothers give birth to low birth weight babies who in turn are at increased risk of chronic under nutrition – this cycle should be broken,” she said.
She requested the policy makers in Bangladesh to take steps to encourage more active lifestyle and healthy diets to prevent the rise of diabetes and heart disease.
The study said food security has been steadily increasing across the country since late 2011. However, malnutrition still impacts around six million children under five.
BRAC Institute of Global Health (BIGH) Director Dr Zeba Mahmud suggested proper care to adolescent girls by saying, “Care for adolescent girls is needed to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition”.
The Food Security Nutritional Surveillance Programme (FSNSP) data shows that “Nutritional outcome of adolescent girls have improved, however nearly one-third of adolescent girls are still short for their ages and 11 percent had a moderately or severely low body mass index (BMI) and this is irrespective of their wealth status or area of residence.
Executive Director of the BRAC Institute of Global Health (BIGH) Dr Sadia Afroze Chowdhury said, “needs of women are still being overlooked and we need a social movement so that there is equitable share of food within households.”
Parental education, economic and nutritional characteristics, child- feeding practices, and birth-order were important risk factors for severe underweight in the country.
