NUTRITIONAL STATUS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN OF DIFFERENT SLUMS IN CHATTOGRAM METROPOLITAN AREA

Abstract

The main aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and associated factors of preschool children at different slums of Chattogram Metropolitan Area. A community based cross sectional study was carried out in this study. A total of four hundred and fifty five preschool children comprising 236 male and 212 female were participated in this study, seven samples were missed. A pre-structured questionnaire was used to find out the association among various factors with nutritional status. Z score of weight for age (underweight), height for age (stunting) and weight for height (wasting) were used to analyze the nutritional status of pre-school children. This study showed that about 38.9% of the children were underweight and also informed that underweight was significantly associated with child’s age group, sex, mother’s nutritional status, mother’s education, mother’s occupation, birth order of children, diarrhea, pneumonia, worm infestation, supplementation of food and immunization status of children. About 21.1% of the children were wasted and it was significantly associated with only child’s age group and about 44.7% of the children were stunted and also informed that stunting was significantly associated with child’s age group, sex, diarrhea, and mother’s nutritional status. The study concludes that underweight among under 5 years of aged children is influenced by multiple factors and a multi sectoral approach is required to improve the nutritional status of children at slums of Bangladesh. Not only nutrition specific intervention but also nutrition sensitive approaches i.e. women empowerment, agriculture, education, social protection and safety net are required to reduce the burden of child undernutrition.