Abstract
This study explores the relationship between malnutrition and intimate partner violence (IPV) among 1,086 young adult Bangladeshi women aged 15-24 years using a cross-sectional data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS). About one-third (33.4%) young adult women experienced physical and/or sexual IPV, 14.5% experienced only sexual IPV and 29% experienced only physical IPV by husbands. About 32.6% young adult women were reported as being underweight (BMI < 18.5) and 6.2% were overweight (BMI ≥ 25). Underweight women experienced more physical IPV (OR = 1.39; 95%CI: 1.09-2.71) and physical and/or sexual IPV (OR = 1.48; 95%CI: 1.12-2.75) than normal range women. Results also indicate a positive association between being overweight/obese and all the forms of IPV. The study findings indicate that the IPV experience plays a significant role in underweight and overweight/obese young adult women and support that younger women's health and nutrition program and policies need to address IPV.
Highlights
Malnutrition, both undernutrition/underweight and overnutrition/overweight, remains a pervasive and damaging condition in under developed and developing countries
The mean age of the respondents was 20 ± 2.54, 83.7% were married before reaching their 18th birthday, 89.9% had less than two children, 64.6% were from the rural background, 15.2% had no education, and 76.1% were not working (Table 1)
Physical intimate partner violence (IPV), physical and/or sexual IPV, minor physical IPV and severe physical IPV were significantly associated with the body mass index (BMI) of women
Summary
Malnutrition, both undernutrition/underweight and overnutrition/overweight, remains a pervasive and damaging condition in under developed and developing countries. Undernutrition is the leading risk factor for mortality in the world, contributing to nearly 3.5 million deaths 1 and 16% of all disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost globally 2. It is an important determinant of maternal and child death 3. In Bangladesh, 24% of ever married women aged [15-49] years are undernourished (body mass index – BMI < 18.5kg/m2) and women in the age group [15,16,17,18,19] years are more likely to be thin or undernourished than other age cohorts 4. Even among the wealthiest quintile of society, 8.4% of women are underweight 4. Undernutrition in Bangladesh continues to be a serious public health problem
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