Under Weightiness among Ever-married Non-pregnant Women in Bangladesh: A Population Based Study

Md Shafiur Rahman,Md Nazrul Islam Mondal,Md Reazul Karim,Md Rafiqul Islam,Kazi Mohiuddin Ahmed,Md Shamsher Alam

doi:10.13189/ujfns.2015.030202

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of under weightiness among young women is a growing public health concern. This paper identified the determinant factors of under weightiness among non-pregnant ever-married women in Bangladesh. Data and necessary information of 16,206 non-pregnant ever-married women were extracted from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2011. The chi-square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used as the statistical tools to analyze the data. The results revealed that the women are found underweight around two times more (15.4% in urban, and 28% in rural) in the rural areas than that of urban areas in Bangladesh. Almost all the factors are found statistically significantly associated with underweight for both urban and rural areas. The binary logistic regression model identified the higher risk of being underweight in the younger age group (15-24 years), illiteracy, husband's illiteracy, having more children, poor economic condition, not having exposure to mass media, household food unsecured, and genital discharged women for both urban and rural areas. The under weightiness among non-pregnant ever-married women for both urban and rural areas are prevalent. Therefore, there is a need for public health programs related to nutrition that are able to address both the areas simultaneously.

Highlights

Ever married women are considered the persons who have been married at least once in their lives
A total of 16,206 (5,692 urban and 10,514 rural) ever-married non-pregnant women aged 15-49 years were included in this analysis
The results indentified that the higher percentage underweighted women were in the younger age groups, illiterate, husband’s illiteracy, no child, marital life without husband, currently working, poor economic condition, not having access to mass media, household food insecurity, and genital discharged for both urban and rural areas

Summary

Introduction

Ever married women are considered the persons who have been married at least once in their lives. Underweight is a term describing a human whose body weight is considered too low to be healthy. Poor nutrition in adults can result in underweight. Underweight, overweight and obese, as compared to the normal BMI, are associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes [2,3,4]. The underweight is a particular issue for developing countries as it is the first and fourth leading cause of death and disability in the high-mortality and low-mortality developing countries, respectively [4]. Rapid urbanization for the developing countries, globalization of food production and changes in dietary patterns are some of the important determinant factors of extreme categories of BMI [5, 7]

Results

Discussion

Conclusion