A Study on the Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Three Districts of Bangladesh

Abstract

Malnutrition is the main nutritional problem in the developing countries like Bangladesh. The most vulnerable groups are under-5 children, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers. This study investigated the nutritional status of children aged 2-5 years of urban and rural areas of three different districts (Kushtia, Jhenidah and Jessore) of Bangladesh. The study was conducted on 200 children among those 100 were from Kushtia, 50 from Jhenidah and 50 from Jessore district. Among the children of Kushtia 55 were male & 45 were female. Among the children of Jhenidah 27 were male & 33 were female. Among the children of Jessore 32 were male & 28 were female. Analyzing anthropometric data we found that the mean height, weight and MUAC of males were 90.47 cm, 13.31 kg and 14.88 cm respectively while 88.51 cm, 12.58 kg and 14.70 cm respectively in case of female. Among the children 57% were under weight, 60% were stunted and 24.5% were found wasted. According to MUAC 35% children were normal and 12.5% children were severely malnourished in those three districts of Bangladesh.