Girls In Bangladesh Research Articles

Understanding the determinants of adolescent nutrition in Bangladesh.

Evidence on the nutritional status and diets of adolescents in low- and middle-income countries is scant. We characterized the nutritional status (body mass index Z-scores (BMIZs)) and nutrient intakes of adolescent boys and girls in rural areas in Bangladesh using the 2011-2012 BIHS data, used regression models to identify the socioeconomic determinants of these outcomes, and household fixed effects models to assess whether the gap between boys and girls changed with women's education and empowerment and household wealth. The adolescents' BMIZ and adequacy of their nutrient intakes were suboptimal. Gender differences varied by outcome and were not systematically in favor of boys. Household wealth was associated with higher BMIZ and probability of adequate energy and micronutrient intakes. Women's education and empowerment were mostly not associated with the study outcomes and did not modify gender differences. There is an urgent need to invest in improving the diets of adolescent boys and girls in Bangladesh. The limited role of women's education and empowerment in improving adolescent nutrition suggests that resources may be too constrained. It may also reflect deeply rooted beliefs about adolescent nutrition and differences between boys and girls that would need to be addressed to improve their nutrition.

An outline of anemia among adolescent girls in Bangladesh: findings from a cross-sectional study

BackgroundAnemia is a significant wide spread public health threat especially among the adolescent girls who are more vulnerable towards low level of hemoglobin particularly of low and middle income countries (LMICs). We investigated the prevalence of anemia among the adolescent girls (10–19 years) in Bangladesh and its socio-demographics distribution.MethodsWe collected data digitally in ODK platform from a sub-sample of a nationwide cross-sectional survey of 1314 adolescent girls in 2015. Capillary blood hemoglobin level was estimated using HemoCue®; anthropometric measurements through standardized procedure and details socio-demographic information were captured and analyzed. Malnutrition was defined as BMI-for-age Z-score below -2SD (BAZ < −2SD), measured in WHO-AnthroPlus. Univariate analysis followed by multiple logistic regression were performed to examine the association between socio-demographic variables and anemia, while controlling the effect of potential confounding variables.ResultsOverall, 51.6% girls were suffering from any form of anemia (non-pregnant-Hb < 12 g/dl; pregnant-Hb < 11 g/dl) while 46% were mildly (non-pregnant-Hb: 10–11.9 g/dl; pregnant-Hb: 10–10.9 g/dl) and 5.4% were moderately (Hb: 7–9.9 g/dl) anemic while only 0.2% were severely anemic. After controlling for relevant covariates in multiple logistic regression model, malnutrition (AOR: 1.42, 95% CI = 1.0–2.10, p-value = 0.083), non-pregnancy (AOR: 6.10, 95% CI = 2.70–13.78, p-value < 0.001), and households with bottom wealth quintile (AOR: 1.54, 95% CI = 1.03–2.30, p-value = 0.037) were identified as significant risk factors of anemia among adolescent girls of Bangladesh.ConclusionsHigher number of adolescent girls are still suffering from anemia in Bangladesh and non-pregnant adolescent girls contributed the most. Immediate, long term and sustainable public health intervention would require to combat the situation.

Anemia and its Socio-demographic Correlates among Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh

Anemia and its Socio-demographic Correlates among Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh

English

Despite the national and international efforts to reduce marriage at earlier age, significant proportion of girls in Bangladesh still marry before reaching legal age of marriage. The aim of this study was to identify the individual-, community- and household- level predictors of early marriage by using the nationally representative data sets to achieve the national picture. This study analyzed the data of 16,830 women extracted from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2014 of which 12,740 (75.04%) were getting early marriage. Frequency distribution was used to describe the background characteristics of respondents. Statistically significant determinates of early marriage were calculated by using the Chi-square test. To examine the association between individual-, community- and household level Characteristics of early marriage, I used a series of multivariate regression models with accounting complex survey design. I found respondents education, partner education, respondent socioeconomic condition, region of residence, place of residence, husband occupation, religion and types of family as an important factors of early marriage by Chi-square test. The results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis indicate women with lower education, rural place of residence, women in Rangpur, Rajshai, Barisal and Khulna division, and women in the Muslim community were the greater risk of being early marriage. Additionally, partner lower education, partner lower age, and partner physical and agricultural worker involvement were positively associated with early marriage. Increasing social awareness about the adverse effect of early marriage and protective government law are important to reduce number of early marriage in Bangladesh. &nbsp; Key words: Early marriage, adverse effect, predictors factors, multivariate logistic regression analysis, Bangladesh

Exploring Maternal Health Care-Seeking Behavior of Married Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh: A Social-Ecological Approach.

BackgroundThe huge proportion of child marriage contributes to high rates of pregnancies among adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Despite substantial progress in reducing maternal mortality in the last two decades, the rate of adolescent pregnancy remains high. The use of skilled maternal health services is still low in Bangladesh. Several quantitative studies described the use of skilled maternal health services among adolescent girls. So far, very little qualitative evidence exists about attitudes and practices related to maternal health. To fill this gap, we aimed at exploring maternal health care-seeking behavior of adolescent girls and their experiences related to pregnancy and delivery in Bangladesh.Methods and FindingsA prospective qualitative study was conducted among thirty married adolescent girls from three Upazilas (sub-districts) of Rangpur district. They were interviewed in two subsequent phases (2014 and 2015). To triangulate and validate the data collected from these married adolescent girls, key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted with different stakeholders. Data analysis was guided by the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) including four levels of factors (individual, interpersonal and family, community and social, and organizational and health systems level) which influenced the maternal health care-seeking behavior of adolescent girls. While adolescent girls showed little decision making-autonomy, interpersonal and family level factors played an important role in their use of skilled maternal health services. In addition, community and social factors and as well as organizational and health systems factors shaped adolescent girls’ maternal health care-seeking behavior.ConclusionsIn order to improve the maternal health of adolescent girls, all four levels of factors of SEM should be taken into account while developing health interventions targeting adolescent girls.

Nutritional status of adolescent girls in Bangladesh: findings of a community based survey

Poverty, large population, socio- economic inequalities and inadequate access to proper health care facilities are the key causes of under nutrition in Bangladesh. Adolescents are the most vulnerable group for under nutrition and having great consequence as they will be parent in future. Studies on nutritional status of adolescent girls are fewer in number and have great effect for intervention. The objective of this study was to assess the nutritional status and predisposing factors of under nutrition among the adolescent girls in Bangladesh. A community-based cross-sectional survey was carried out from July to December 2013. Adolescent girls were the study population. Data was collected by face to face interview at household level. According to BMI category (kg/m2) the prevalence of under-weight (BMI&lt;18.5) was found 65.9% and as per Gomez Classification (Weight for age), the prevalence of malnutrition was 48.2% (mild), 23.5% (moderate) and 2.8% (severe) categories and finally, as per Water Low Classification wasting found 16.6% (mild), 3.5%(moderate) and 0.2% severe categories. On the other hand, stunting found 39.6 % (mild), 9.2% (moderate) and 2.3% (severe) categories. Prevalence of under nutrition was found much higher (82.3%) among younger age group (?12 years). Higher prevalence of under-nutrition also found among the functionally illiterate adolescent girls, it was 75.8% and 51.3% among illiterate and literate group respectively. In both of the cases difference was statistically significant (p&lt;0.001). The prevalence of illness found higher among under-weight adolescent girls in last two weeks compare to healthy adolescent girls both in rural and urban settings. This difference also found statistically significant (p&lt;0.001). Under nourishment found higher among younger and low literate girls. Prevalence of other symptoms is also found higher among them.South East Asia Journal of Public Health Vol.6(1) 2016: 3-7

Investigating Cyber Bullying: Pervasiveness, Causes and Socio-Psychological Impact on Adolescent Girls

Technology affords abundant benefits to us but the more we are beneficent by the technology, the more the problems consequent to the technology emerged. As the use of internet in Bangladesh is increasing day by day, Cyberbullying is now considered as an emerging threats for the adolescent girls in Bangladesh. The primary objective of our paper is to elicit the causes and socio-psychological impact of cyberbullying toward our girls. Here, we collected data from 50 female respondents purposively from Sylhet City Corporation Area and applied survey method for conducting the research, we also followed case study and observation method in a little extent .Although people of all ages can be the victim of cyberBullying, In this paper our special focus is on the harassment of young girls due to cyber bullying which creates a great effect on their psychological health resulting a boundless depression, on their social status bringing about much defamation and finally may suicidal intention to get rid of this deviant and harmful behavior. We are hopeful that our research will be helpful for the further study on this issues and draw attention to our government to take effective steps to diminish this serious problem.

Determinants and trends in health facility-based deliveries and caesarean sections among married adolescent girls in Bangladesh

ObjectiveTo identify the determinants and measure the trends in health facility-based deliveries and caesarean sections among married adolescent girls in Bangladesh.MethodsIn order to measure the trends in health facility-based deliveries...

Discrimination within the Family Do Infant Girls in Bangladesh Get the Same Amount of Food as Infant Boys?

With gender discrimination still prevalent in most parts of the world, governments and the United Nations are adopting policies to eliminate all forms of discrimination by 2030. Although most policy interventions attempt to reduce gender discrimination in the workplace and educational attainment, little is known about the extent of gender discrimination within the family. In this paper, I study whether girls and boys are treated equally in Bangladesh by examining the extent of the difference in standardized BMI between infant boys and infant girls of the same household. Using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys of Bangladesh, my results show that the standardized BMI of infant girls are lower than that of boys of the same household, and the presence of more children in the household makes the standardized BMI of girls even lower.

A double-hurdle analysis of the gender earnings gap for working children in Bangladesh

Child labor continues to be pervasive throughout the developing world. Although the number of child workers has declined, the ILO’s 2010 estimate remained at 215 million children. An estimated 100 million girls are involved in child labor, often for low pay. Girls are often engaged in some of the worst forms of child labor, sometimes in illegal activities such as prostitution. Studies regarding the gender earnings gap among adults are abundant, but there is very little economic research on girls’ unequal treatment in the labor market in terms of pay. In this paper, we measure and analyze the gender earning gap between working boys and girls in Bangladesh, those who are paid as well as those who receive no pay. In order to investigate the gender gap in the earnings of children, we use the 2002-03 National Child Labour Survey of Bangladesh and limit our analysis to children ages 5 through 14, yielding 50,263 cases. Of these children, 6,668 performed market work; 2,283 were paid for their work and 4,385 were unpaid workers. We present descriptive statistics and then apply the Double-Hurdle model to adjust for selectivity bias and to include the working children who do not earn a wage. We then estimate Mincerian earnings equations for a pooled sample of children who perform market work, using four alternative models. We find evidence of a significant gender earnings gap in the overall child labor market in Bangladesh with a raw earnings gap of 36 percent. We specify four alternative Double-Hurdle regression models in which we include alternative sets of independent variables. All four models show a statistically significant wage gap ranging in magnitude from 31 percent to 29 percent. The magnitude of the gap is large, due mainly to a greater proportion of girls in unpaid work. A child’s own characteristics, family characteristics, as well as industrial segregation play important roles in explaining the gap. Girls’ earnings remain well below boys’ earnings even when all measured characteristics are included in the analysis. Our results show that the concentration of girls’ in unpaid work contributes to the earnings gap, yet we understand the importance of part-time (often unpaid) work in allowing girls to pursue their education. Policies are needed that encourage both educational and employment opportunities for girls in safe environments.

Qualitative perspectives on the impact evaluation of girls’ empowerment in Bangladesh

This paper presents qualitative analysis of an RCT evaluating a programme aiming to delay marriage and empower adolescent girls in Bangladesh. It begins by suggesting a model of three dimensions of empowerment for use in evaluation. It then describes the social context of early marriage in Bangladesh. The model of empowerment is then used to discuss the design and preliminary findings of the RCT. The paper stresses the importance of approaching research as a social process, to improve data quality and rigour of analysis. It closes by arguing for teams which balance equally researchers with quantitative and qualitative expertise.

The effect of a school-based educational intervention on menstrual health: an intervention study among adolescent girls in Bangladesh

ObjectivesTo assess the impact of a school-based menstrual education programme on: (1) menstrual knowledge, beliefs and practices, (2) menstrual disorders experienced, and (3) restrictions on menstruating adolescents.DesignIntervention study.SettingAraihazar area, Bangladesh.Participants416...

English

Child marriage is a strong social custom, particularly for girls in Bangladesh. There are many reasons for child marriage. But most vital reasons among them are poverty, superstition, lack of social security and lack of awareness. According to UNICEF report, &lsquo;the State of the World&rsquo;s Children, 2009&rsquo;, &ldquo;Early marriage is pervasive in Bangladesh, with 64 percent of girls married before age 18. Early pregnancy often results from child marriage; one-third of girls aged 15 to 19 in Bangladesh are currently either mothers or pregnant.&rdquo; Although child marriage is prohibited legally, but occurrences of child marriage are still happening in rural areas of Bangladesh. According to the Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929 the minimum legal age for marriage is 18 years for females in Bangladesh. Along with this Act child marriage is punishable by law. The right to free and full consent to a marriage is recognized in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in many subsequent human rights instruments &ndash; consent that cannot be &lsquo;free and full&rsquo; when at least one partner is very immature. Bangladesh also acceded to the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages on 5 October, 1998. These laws, however, have little impact on the frequency of child marriage in Bangladesh. Laws should be enforced to discourage child marriage; however, legal actors alone are insufficient. Social awareness programmes may also be effective in deterring child marriage. To prevent child marriage, a wide range of individuals and organizations need to create awareness among people, particularly the poor. Especially, parents and government can play main role in reducing child marriage. An environment should be ensured where children get &nbsp;proper care and facility to grow up completely and properly. This paper attempts to present the socio-economic and physical consequences of girl child marriage and its legal protection with awareness level of parents in rural Bangladesh.&nbsp; &nbsp; Key words: Child marriage, consequence, law, awareness. &nbsp

Editorial: Violence Against Women Across the Globe

In keep with our global mental health theme for 2013, my editorial remarks this month will focus on violence against women across the globe. In my view, improved mental health for the world’s people can never be achieved without decreasing the violence perpetrated on girls and women. Since I became editor of this journal, we have published a number of special themed issues on this egregious violence, the most recent one being issue number 12 for 2012. That issue called attention to support for battered pregnant women, factors inhibiting women’s ability to separate from abusive partners, marginality of abused women, and constraints imposed by service agencies (Alhalal, 2012; Bhandari, 2012; Koci, 2012). The authors were eloquent, the research impressive. I am proud of this special issue. Yet, regrettably, the issue only scratched the surface of the immense international problem of violence against women, which involves female infanticide, childhood abuse of girls, rape of girls and women, genital mutilation, sex trafficking, and domestic violence. In daily news broadcasts, we hear of men throwing acid at girls in Bangladesh, gang rapes in Papua New Guinea, stoning of female “adulterers” in Afghanistan, and torture of female prisoners in Latin America. In recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (November 25), Routledge offered free downloads of a number of articles from its journals, shedding further light on both universal and culturally-specific forms of violence against women. A sampling of topics included sexual assault of college women in the UK, marital rape in Nigeria, war-related rape in the Congo, violence against sex workers in Ethiopia, female genital mutilation in the African Sudanic belt, honor killings in Iraq, and sexual victimization of Asian American women (Banwell, 2012; Chika, 2011; Hague, Gill, & Begikhani, 2012; Kedir & Admasachew, 2010; Lee & Law, 2001; Phipps & Smith, 2012; Wilson, 2012). Once again, in perusing these articles I found eloquent authors and impressive research. The words of female victims, as quoted in the articles, haunt the reader. For example, a college student in the UK who had experienced as violent assault reported:

Contextualising sexual harassment of adolescent girls in Bangladesh

Violence against women is a social mechanism confirming women's subordination in many societies. Sexual violence and harassment have various negative psychological impacts on girls, including a persistent feeling of insecurity and loss of self-esteem. This article aims to contextualize a particular form of sexual harassment, namely “eve teasing”, experienced by Bangladeshi adolescent girls (12–18 years) which emerged from a study of adolescent sexual behaviour carried out by young people. The study used qualitative methods and a participatory approach, including focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation. Despite taboos, unmarried adolescents actively seek information about sex, erotic pleasure and romance. Information was easily available from videos, mobile phone clips and pornographic magazines, but reinforced gender inequality. “Eve teasing” was one outlet for boys' sexual feelings; they gained pleasure from it and could show their masculinity. The girls disliked it and were afraid of being blamed for provoking it. Thus, “eve teasing” is a result of socio-cultural norms relating to sexuality, as well as a lack of access to sexual and reproductive health information and services in Bangladesh. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive sexuality education that goes beyond a mere health focus and addresses gender norms and helps youth to gain social-sexual interaction skills.

Nutritional status of adolescents in Bangladesh: Comparison of severe thinness status of a low-income family′s adolescents between urban and rural Bangladesh

Introduction:This study estimated the nutritional as well as the severe thinness status (according to the World Health Organization [WHO]) of a low-income family's adolescent girl and also their early age of life in both urban and rural adolescent girls in Bangladesh.Materials and Methods:This cross-sectional study measured the height, weight and muac by standard procedure for calculating the body mass index according to the WHO reference. A 2-days, 24-h food recall and food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate the food frequency, energy intake, protein and carbohydrate. A multistage, multiphase stratified cluster sampling was used to select the study population from two locations in Bangladesh: Dhaka city and the east region of Trishal (district of Mymensingh). The study subjects were low-income families’ adolescent girls (n = 214) aged 14–17 years. The two groups contained an equal number of respondents (n=107/group).Results:Results revealed that economic status had a significant effect on nutritional status. Nutritional status of low-income families’ adolescent were low both in urban and rural adolescents, but severe thinness rate according to the WHO of urban (22.4%) adolescents was much higher than rural (10.3%) adolescents (chi-square = 4.9 and P-value = 0.01), and was also higher at an earlier age of their life. In food intake distribution and food consumption status, the same results were seen. The percentage of never eat meat and fish of low-income families adolescent girls were (29.7%, 11.4%) in urban group and (24.4%, 6.8%) in rural group. The main food rice consumption of urban adolescents was also about half that of rural adolescents per day. The study also shows that intake of energy, protein, carbohydrate and fat were significantly different between urban and rural girls. Only 53% energy was covered of the recommended daily energy intake in urban adolescents.Conclusion:Based on the food recall and anthropometric results, we conclude that malnutrition is common in low-income family's adolescents, and the severe thinness rate is much higher in urban than in rural adolescents, as also their early age of life in both low-income family's adolescents girls in Bangladesh.

A Study on Age at Menarche of School Going Girls in Bangladesh

The aim of this research is to study age at menarche of school going girls in Bangladesh. For this purpose, the data is acquired from Nilphamary Government Girls High School of the classes of five, six, seven and eight during1st June- 30 th June, 2008. In this study, it is to investigate the pattern of age at menarche of total respondents and the pattern of height, weight and body mass index by the age of the respondents in accordance with menarche and non-menarche. The age range of the respondents was between 10 to 14 years. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis are employed in this paper. This study also displays the association of age at menarche with socio-demographic variables of respondents. It is realized from the association that early menarche for school going girl's height, weight, father income, body mass index, time spent by watching television and father educational qualification were highly significant but mother educational qualification, mother occupation, father occupation, number of siblings, order of birth, time spent by playing and mother time spent were insig- nificant. In logistic analysis, it was found that only height, weight and time spent by watching TV were significant which have positive effects on age at menarche.

Effect of long-term intermittent supplementation with multiple micronutrients compared with iron-and-folic acid supplementation on Hb and micronutrient status of non-anaemic adolescent schoolgirls in rural Bangladesh

The present study examined whether long-term supplementation with once- and twice-weekly multiple micronutrients (MMN-1 and MMN-2) can improve Hb and micronutrient status more than twice-weekly Fe-folic acid (IFA-2) supplementation in non-anaemic adolescent girls in Bangladesh. An equal number of 324 rural schoolgirls aged 11-17 years were given MMN-1 or MMN-2 or IFA-2 supplements for 52 weeks in a randomised, double-blind trial. Blood samples were collected at baseline, and at 26 and 52 weeks of supplementation. The girls receiving IFA-2 supplements were more likely to be anaemic than the girls receiving MMN-2 supplements for 26 weeks (OR 5·1, 95% CI 1·3, 19·5; P = 0·018). All three supplements reduced Fe deficiency effectively. Both the MMN-1 and MMN-2 groups showed significantly greater improvements in vitamins A, B(2) and C status than the girls in the IFA-2 group, as might be expected. Receiving a MMN-1 supplement was found to be less effective than MMN-2 supplement in improving Fe, vitamins A, B(2) and folic acid status. Receiving micronutrient supplements beyond 26 weeks showed little additional benefit in improving micronutrient status. In conclusion, given twice-weekly for 26 weeks, MMN supplements can improve micronutrient status effectively with no significant increase in Hb concentration compared with IFA supplements in non-anaemic Bangladeshi adolescent girls. However, it significantly reduces the risk of anaemia. Before any recommendations can be made, further research, including into cost-effectiveness, is needed to see whether MMN supplementation has any additional longer-term health benefits over that of IFA supplementation in this population.

Long-Term Intermittent Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation Enhances Hemoglobin and Micronutrient Status More Than Iron + Folic Acid Supplementation in Bangladeshi Rural Adolescent Girls with Nutritional Anemia1–3

Previous short-term supplementation studies showed no additional hematologic benefit of multiple micronutrients (MMN) compared with iron + folic acid (IFA) in adolescent girls. This study examines whether long-term once- or twice-weekly supplementation of MMN can improve hemoglobin (Hb) and micronutrient status more than twice-weekly IFA supplementation in anemic adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Anemic girls (n = 324) aged 11–17 y attending rural schools were given once- or twice-weekly MMN or twice-weekly IFA, containing 60 mg iron/dose in both supplements, for 52 wk in a randomized double-blind trial. Blood samples were collected at baseline and 26 and 52 wk. Intent to treat analysis showed no significant difference in the Hb concentration between treatments at either 26 or 52 wk. However, after excluding girls with hemoglobinopathy and adjustment for baseline Hb, a greater increase in Hb was observed with twice-weekly MMN at 26 wk (P = 0.045). Although all 3 treatments effectively reduced iron deficiency, once-weekly MMN produced significantly lower serum ferritin concentrations than the other treatments at both 26 and 52 wk. Both once- and twice-weekly MMN significantly improved riboflavin, vitamin A, and vitamin C status compared with IFA. Overall, once-weekly MMN was less efficacious than twice-weekly MMN in improving iron, riboflavin, RBC folic acid, and vitamin A levels. Micronutrient supplementation beyond 26 wk was likely important in sustaining improved micronutrient status. These findings highlight the potential usefulness of MMN intervention in this population and have implications for programming.

The Effectiveness of Adolescent Development Program of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in Strengthening Awareness Regarding Social Issues among Rural Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

The purpose of this study is to find out the effectiveness of Adolescent Development Program (ADP) of BRAC in elevating awareness regarding various social issues among poor rural girls in Banglades...