A Study on the Relationship between Nutritional Status and Prevalence of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea among Preschool Children in Kushtia

Abstract

The prevalence of diarrhoea and pneumonia is quite alarming amongst children under 5 years of age who belong to low socioeconomic status. This study was carried out from January to December (2012) in Kushtia, and the total sample were boys (209) and girls (191). Anthropometric measurements were performed by standard methods National Centre for Health Statistics (NCHS). The prevalence of severe underweight, stunting and wasting (≤ -3 SD) were found in the sample data about 11%, 22% and 17% respectively; whereas the prevalence of pneumonia, diarrhea and both pneumonia & diarrhea was found 53%, 44.50% and 38.75% respectively. The high prevalence of pneumonia (62.72%) and frequency (1.85) were found in under 12 months age group, while diarrhea (48.86%) and both pneumonia & diarrhea (45.45%) were found in 13-24 months age group. A greatest relationship was found between mother and child health status. About 89.26% mothers with poor health status have a sick child. Among the mothers with good health, the percentage of sick children was 45.73%. In this study, 34.25% of children were found to be severe anemic, 40.25% of children were found to be moderately anemic and 25.50% were nonanemic. Our findings underscore the fact that even poor nutrition or marginal malnutrition can predispose children to pneumonia. Anemia also significantly increased the risk of pneumonia in children. Our study revealed that anemia might be a risk factor for lower respiratory tract infections including pneumonia; however further studies with statistical model is needed to confirm. This study also indicated that children with diarrhea were at increased risk of pneumonia.