Birth Interval and its Association with adverse Childhood Nutritional outcomes among under-Five Children in Bangladesh: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Introduction: Short birth spacing is reported to have health consequences for both mother and child. This study aims is to examine the effect of short birth interval on nutritional outcomes of under-five children in Bangladesh. Methods:We used data from the latest five rounds of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2004 to 2017-18. The short birth interval is defined as birth spacing of <24 months and 24-35 months between two subsequent births. The outcomes of interest are stunting and underweight. Both bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses were employed. Results of the multivariate analysis are shown by odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Data were analyzed by Stata 15/IC. Results: A total of 16,100 under-five children of second and higher-order births were included for analysis. Of the children, 12% were born at a space of <24 months, and 19% were born with a space of 24-35 months. The proportion of children with short birth interval was found decreasing. Results of the logistic regression analysis show thatcompared to the birth interval of 36-59 months children born to women with birth interval <24 months were significantly (P<0.001) at higher risk of being stunted (OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.57) and underweight (OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.58). A similar result was obtained for the birth interval of 24-35 months. Conclusion: Short birth interval remains a problem of childhood nutrition in Bangladesh. Research to explore causal pathways and programs to lengthen space between inter-pregnancy should be intensified. Keywords: Birth interval, childhood nutrition, stunting, underweight, logistic regression