Understanding Stunting and the Common Characteristics of Households with a Stunted Child

Abstract

Bangladesh is a middle-income country with a history of devastatingly high rates of child and maternal undernutrition. However, there has been a steady decline in the prevalence of childhood undernutrition in the last two decades: while the prevalence of rural children under five was just over 70% in 1990, it had declined to 33% by 2011. Despite this dramatic improvement, the actual number of malnourished children in this highly populated country is still high when compared to other developing countries. The current national prevalence of childhood stunting, a measure of chronic malnutrition, is 36.1% (BDHS, 2014). Malnutrition and food insecurity are among the greatest public health threats in the country.