Abstract
Short maternal stature is identified as a strong predictor of offspring undernutrition in low and middle-income countries. However, there is limited information to confirm an intergenerational link between maternal and under-five undernutrition in Bangladesh. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the association between short maternal stature and offspring stunting and wasting in Bangladesh. For analysis, this study pooled the data from four rounds of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS) 2004, 2007, 2011, and 2014 that included about 28,123 singleton children aged 0–59 months born to mothers aged 15–49 years. Data on sociodemographic factors, birth history, and anthropometry were analyzed using STATA 14.2 to perform a multivariable model using ‘Modified Poisson Regression’ with step-wise backward elimination procedures. In an adjusted model, every 1 cm increase in maternal height significantly reduced the risk of stunting (relative risks (RR) = 0.960; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.957, 0.962) and wasting (RR = 0.986; 95% CI: 0.980, 0.992). The children of the short statured mothers (<145 cm) had about two times greater risk of stunting and three times the risk of severe stunting, 1.28 times the risk of wasting, and 1.43 times the risk of severe wasting (RR = 1.43; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.83) than the tall mothers (≥155 cm). These findings confirmed a robust intergenerational linkage between short maternal stature and offspring stunting and wasting in Bangladesh.
Highlights
Undernutrition remains highly prevalent in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in countries from South Asia
We examined the association between maternal height and child stunting and wasting adjusting for other maternal, child, and sociodemographic covariates using a nationally representative sample
In Bangladesh and other LMICs where there is a high level of child undernutrition, the intergenerational effects of maternal undernutrition may lag the effects of interventions aimed at reducing child stunting
Summary
Undernutrition remains highly prevalent in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially in countries from South Asia. In Bangladesh in 2014, the prevalence of stunting and wasting among children under five years was estimated at 36% and. A recent study using a pooled analysis of data from 137 developing countries showed that, in 2011, 14.4% of stunting among 44.1 million children aged under two years (6.4 million cases) was attributable to maternal undernutrition [4]. As human height is inherited from parents, genetic factors should mainly determine the relationship between maternal height and offspring growth [6]. Other factors such as metabolic programming, epigenetics, and the intergenerational transmission of poverty play
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