Abstract
BackgroundEarly childbearing influences women’s health. This study aims to examine the effects of socio-demographic factors on nutritional status of early childbearing mothers in Bangladesh based on Body Mass Index (BMI) as the indicator.MethodsData was extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2011. The survey was performed on 17,842 married women aged 15–49. We focused on early childbearing mothers (age ≤ 24, and who had delivered their first child ≤ 20). Mothers who were underweight (BMI ≤ 18.5 kg/m2) would be further classified into various grades of chronic energy deficiency (CED): mild (17.0 ≤ BMI < 18.5 kg/m2), moderate (16.0 ≤ BMI <17.0 kg/m2), and severe (BMI < 16.0 kg/m2). Multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the effect of socio-demographic factors on nutritional status.ResultsMean age of the mothers was 20.49 ± 2.37 years (ranged 15–24 years). The prevalence of underweight among early childbearing mothers was 32.1 % (urban 25 % and rural 35.1 %). Most of the underweight mothers had mild (62.2 %) CED, while the remaining had either moderate (25.9 %) or severe (11.9 %) CED. Multiple logistic regression analysis demonstrated that young mothers from rural areas, poor families, and those who were illiterate or with low level of education, working, and married to unemployed husband were at higher risk for being underweight. Young mothers who had non-caesarean delivered, delivered at home, or married at early age and had more than two children were also at higher risk for being underweight.ConclusionsThe prevalence of underweight among early childbearing mothers in Bangladesh is very high (32.1 %), associated with the still common practice of teenage marriage. Education level, wealth index, occupation, place of residence, age at first marriage and parity were important predictors for their nutritional status. The government and non-government organizations should take initiatives to reduce the prevalence of underweight mothers in Bangladesh.
Highlights
After we analysed the data set of 2,743 young nonpregnant young Bangladeshi mothers who delivered their first child before age 20, we noted that the mean age of the mothers was 20.49 ±
When we look at the method and place of delivery their child, we noted that mothers who delivered at home had higher risk of being underweight compared to those who delivered in hospitals or clinics (36.4 % vs 28.7 %)
Our study showed that the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) of young childbearing women in Bangladesh was 20.16 kg/m2, and 32.1 % of these women were underweight
Summary
This study aims to examine the effects of sociodemographic factors on nutritional status of early childbearing mothers in Bangladesh based on Body Mass Index (BMI) as the indicator. Women who become pregnant before age 20 are considered as early childbearing mothers. General wellbeing and nutritional requirements of these young mothers have recently received more attention especially in developing and under-developed countries [1]. It has been shown that early childbearing mothers were at higher risk of prenatal morbidities such as gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension and preterm labour compared to the general population [2]. The mortality risk would be 5–7 times higher for mothers who became pregnant before age 15 [4]. Some anthropometric and socio-economic factors had been associated with adverse health consequences among adolescent mothers [5]. A recent longitudinal study on African-American community in Chicago reported that adolescent mothers were more likely to be unemployed, live in poverty and dependent on social welfare [7]
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