Highlights Factors of examination pressure of Bangladeshi tertiary level students are hardly researched. Stress, anxiety and depression was evaluated using DASS-21 for 210 youths aged between 17–25 years. The significant contributors are living with family, family time, sleeping pattern and diets.

There has been a gradual rise in the number of cesarean sections (CSs) in Bangladesh. The present study identified the cohort of women, who were more likely to opt for an elective CS based on their sociodemographic characteristics, pre-delivery care history, and media exposure, using the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey-2019. The survey stratification adjusted logistic regression model and interpretable machine learning method of building classification trees were utilized to analyze a sample of 9202 women, alongside district-wise heat maps. One-in-five births (20%) were elective CSs in the 2 years prior to the survey. Women residing in affluent households with educated house-heads, who accessed antenatal care prior to delivery (AOR 4.12; 95% CI 3.06, 5.54) with regular access to media (AOR 1.31; 95% CI 1.10, 1.56) and who owned a mobile phone (AOR 1.25; 95% CI 1.04, 1.50) were more likely to opt for elective CSs, which suggests that health access and health literacy were crucial factors in women’s mode of delivery. Spatial analyses revealed that women living in larger cities had more elective CS deliveries, pointing towards the availability of better health and access to multiple safe delivery options in peripheral areas.

Two early childhood development aspects: carer involvement with children, and their ownership of ageappropriate books, were evaluated. Children aged 0-4 years from Bangladesh, extracted from populationbased Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2019, were assessed using survey adjusted logistic regression models and district-wise spatial distribution. Among 13 806 children, 11.2% had no shared activities with carers, and 60.7% had at least four shared activities. Among 22 796 children, 27.4% owned at least one book. Higher carer-child shared activities and more child-friendly books in households were observed in the Western part of Bangladesh. Children from higher socioeconomic households with educated mothers and greater exposure to media, had higher carer-child interaction and greater availability of books. These findings can aid policies targeting psychological and cognitive development of children in Bangladesh.