BackgroundAnemia is a global public health problem but the burden of anemia is disproportionately borne among children in developing countries. Anemia in early stages of life has serious consequences on the growth and development of the children. We examine the prevalence of anemia, possible association between anemia and different socio-economic, demographic, health and other factors among children with ages from 6 to 59 months from the nationally representative 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS).MethodsData on hemoglobin (Hb) concentration among the children aged 6–59 months from the most recent BDHS (2011) were used. This nationally representative survey allowed a multistage stratified cluster sampling design and provided data on a wide range of indicators such as fertility, mortality, women and child health, nutrition and other background characteristics. Anemia status was determined using hemoglobin level (<11.0 g/dl), and weighted prevalence of childhood anemia along with 95 % confidence intervals were provided. We also examined the distribution of weighted anemia prevalence across different groups and performed logistic regression to assess the association of anemia with different factors.ResultsA total of 2171 children aged 6–59 months were identified for this analysis, with weighted prevalence of anemia being 51.9 % overall- 47.4 % in urban and 53.1 % in rural regions. Results of a multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that, children below 24 months of age (odds ratio, [OR] 3.01; 95 % confidence interval [CI] 2.38-3.81), and those from an anemic mother (OR 1.80; 95 % CI 1.49-2.18) were at higher risk of anemia. Childhood anemia was significantly associated with chronic malnutrition of child, source of drinking water, household wealth and geographical location (defined by division).ConclusionsA high prevalence of anemia among 6–59 months aged children was observed in Bangladesh. Given the negative impact of anemia on the development of children in future, there is an urgent need for effective and efficient remedial public health interventions.

The aim of this study was to assess whether women's empowerment ensures reduced intimate partner violence (IPV). The differential relationship between women's empowerment and IPV among married women in Bangladesh was investigated using 2007 Demographic and Health Survey data. Logistic regression models were used to assess whether women's empowerment had any influence on their likelihood of experiencing IPV while controlling for other covariates. The analyses revealed that older cohorts of women, who were more empowered, were more vulnerable to physical violence than less-empowered, younger women. The likelihood of being affected by physical violence among less-empowered, childless women was greater than that of more-empowered women with only male children. Less-empowered, uneducated women were more likely to experience physical violence than more-empowered, primary-educated women. Less-empowered women who had been married for less than 5 years were more likely to suffer from physical violence than more-empowered women who had been married for more than 19 years. The likelihood of experiencing sexual violence was not found to have any significant association with women's empowerment. The findings suggest that although women's empowerment in Bangladesh is gradually improving, some sub-groups of empowered women are still susceptible to IPV.

Asthma, a global public health problem, is affecting both developing and developed countries. Bangladesh is one of the asthma prone countries with high concentration of the disease in Mymensingh zone. This study has been conducted to identify the determinants and impact of asthma disease in Mymensingh zone of Bangladesh. Cluster sampling technique is used for sampling 100 asthmatic patients from Mymensingh zone. Different socio-economic and biological information of the asthmatic patients have been collected. Multinomial logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression have been used to find out the determinants and impact of asthma.The result suggests that the likelihood of being in severe asthma is 5.182 times higher if the public rule of smoking is not maintained in work place. Positive impact of access to sunlight and presence of cockroaches, mice or rats in household on reducing asthmatic condition was also revealed in the analyses. The multivariate logistic regression suggests that hypertension and weight change both are significantly influenced by disease status of asthma.This research identifies that along with other determinants smoking in the working places is an important determinant of asthma in Mymensingh zone of Bangladesh. Furthermore, asthma is found to have significant influence on hypertension and weight change which will guide the policy planners and health professionals to address the issues together in systematic fashion. Mymensingh zone being an asthmatic region needs special attention in the national health program. J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 16(3): 478–481, December 2018