Status In Rural Bangladesh Research Articles

Multidimensional Poverty Status in Rural Bangladesh and the Pathways of Sustainable Poverty Alleviation

Even though poverty is a social and economic phenomenon, it is nonetheless important to investigate the multidimensional character of poverty in the Global South. Hence, this study is an effort to determine the multidimensional poverty status in rural Bangladesh, decompose poverty, and investigate risk factors for poverty. To achieve the goal, primary data were collected from 350 rural farm households through the random sampling technique. The Alkire-Foster (A-F) method of multidimensional poverty estimation was applied considering four dimensions of deprivation. It was found that 11% of rural households were multidimensionally poor, whereas the multidimensional headcount of poor was 23% and their average intensity of poverty was 47%. When their poverty was decomposed, it was evidenced that the standard of living dimension has the highest contribution among the four dimensions to poverty. The result from ‘indicator-wise decomposition’ found that job seeking was the highest contributing indicator to poverty followed by school dropout and type of cooking fuel. A binomial logit regression model was used to explore the risk factors of poverty. Regression results revealed that larger household size has significantly increased the risk while, more income-earning persons, ownership of large livestock, and crop farming could significantly reduce the risk of poverty in rural farm households. The study findings could be used to implement a sustainable poverty reduction strategy. Also, the contextual factors need to be considered in poverty estimation and policy intervention should be implemented in such a way where the contribution of the dimensions and indicators of poverty get prime focus.

Household dairy production, dairy intake, and anthropometric outcomes in rural Bangladesh

We assess whether ownership of dairy cows is associated with a greater likelihood of consuming dairy products and with child anthropometric status in rural Bangladesh. Consistent with the assumption of imperfectly functioning markets for dairy products, ownership of dairy cows increases the likelihood that a child 6–59 months consumes milk by 7.7 percentage points with no difference in this association between boys and girls. This association nearly doubles in magnitude when we consider households that own a dairy cow that produced milk in the last year. This result is robust to the controls we use and the way in which we measure dairy cow ownership. Even when we saturate our model with child, maternal, household, wealth, as well as village fixed effects, we retain an association between dairy cow ownership and height-for-age z scores (HAZ) that is meaningful in magnitude – 0.13 standard deviations – and statistically significant at the one percent level. For children in the 12–23.9 month age group, ownership of a dairy cow is associated with a 0.37 SD increase in HAZ and a reduction of 11.3 percentage points in stunting. There is no statistically significant association with weight-for-height or wasting. These associations do not differ between boys and girls.

Micronutrient Status During Pregnancy is Associated with Child Immune Status in Rural Bangladesh

BackgroundPoor immune function increases children’s risk of infection and mortality. Several maternal factors during pregnancy may affect infant immune function during the postnatal period. ObjectivesWe aimed to evaluate whether maternal micronutrients, stress, estriol, and immune status during the first or second trimester of pregnancy were associated with child immune status in the first two years after birth. MethodsWe conducted observational analyses within the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) Benefits Bangladesh randomized controlled trial. We measured biomarkers in 575 pregnant women and postnatally in their children. Maternal biomarkers measured during the first and second trimester of pregnancy included nutrition status via vitamin D (25-hydroxy-D [25(OH)D]), ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR), and retinol-binding protein (RBP); cortisol; estriol. Immune markers were assessed in pregnant women at enrollment and their children at ages 14 and 28 mo, including C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), and 13 cytokines (including IFN-γ). We generated a standardized sum score of log-transformed cytokines. We analyzed IFN-γ individually because it is a critical immunoregulatory cytokine. All outcomes were prespecified. We used generalized additive models and reported the mean difference and 95% confidence intervals at the 25th and 75th percentiles of exposure distribution. ResultsAt child age 14 mo, concentrations of maternal RBP were inversely associated with the cytokine sum score in children (-0.34 adjusted difference between the 25th and 75th percentile [95% confidence interval -0.61, -0.07]), and maternal vitamin A deficiency was positively associated with the cytokine sum score in children (1.02 [0.13, 1.91]). At child age of 28 mo, maternal RBP was positively associated with IFN-γ in children (0.07 [0.01, 0.14]), whereas maternal vitamin A deficiency was negatively associated with child AGP (-0.07 [-0.13, -0.02]). Maternal iron deficiency was associated with higher AGP concentrations in children at age 14 mo (0.13 [0.04, 0.23]), and maternal sTfR concentrations were positively associated with child CRP concentrations at age 28 mo (0.18 [0, 0.36]). ConclusionMaternal deficiencies in vitamin A or iron during the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy may shape the trajectory of a child’s immune status.

Determinants of maternal low mid-upper arm circumference and its association with child nutritional status among poor and very poor households in rural Bangladesh.

Malnutrition among women is a long‐standing public health concern that has significant adverse consequences on the survival and healthy development of children. Maternal mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC) could potentially represent a simpler alternative to traditional nutritional indicators. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with low maternal MUAC (as an indicator of being underweight) and address the research question of whether maternal MUAC is significantly associated with children's nutritional status among poor and very poor households in rural Bangladesh. Data on 5,069 households were extracted from the Suchana programme baseline survey, which was carried out in 80 randomly selected unions (the lowest administrative unit of Bangladesh) in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts between November 2016 and February 2017. The outcome variables were three child nutritional status indicators: wasting, stunting and underweight. Mothers were classified as underweight if their MUAC was less than 23 cm. Separate multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the factors potentially associated with maternal underweight status and explore whether maternal underweight status is significantly associated with children's nutritional status. The prevalence of maternal underweight status was 46.7%, and the prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight among children under two were 10.5%, 44.4% and 31.9%, respectively. After controlling for various socio‐economic and demographic characteristics, maternal MUAC was significantly associated with children's nutritional status in rural Bangladesh.

Is there any interaction effect of mothers’ education and their bargaining power on children’s nutritional status? Evidence from rural Bangladesh

This paper examines the relationship between mothers’ education and children’s nutritional status in rural Bangladesh with a specific focus on the interaction effect of mothers’ education and their intra-household bargaining power. By applying the linear multiple regression analysis to a sample of Bangladeshi rural children aged up to 24 months, this paper finds that mothers’ education exhibits a direct but weakly significant influence on the children’s overall nutritional status after controlling for child, parents, household, and community characteristics. Furthermore the paper finds that the interaction between mothers’ education and her intra-household bargaining power in relation to food purchase is positively and significantly associated with children’s weight. Notably the interaction effect attenuates the significance of the association between mothers’ education and children’s overall nutritional status. This implies that children of households where mothers’ voice is heard in food acquire decisions perform better in respect of overall nutritional status compared with the children of households that lack in the balance of power between spouses. This paper, therefore, concludes that policies towards promoting girls’ education may have the potential of improving children’s nutritional status in developing countries like Bangladesh.

A Pilot School Meal Program Using Local Foods with Soybean in Rural Bangladesh: Effects on the Nutritional Status of Children

Background: Growth retardation is a challenge in Bangladesh. School feeding programs with fortified biscuits have been evaluated in Bangladesh. However, the impacts of a school meal program using local foods on the growth and nutritional status of children have not been investigated. Objective: To determine whether a school meal program (SMP) using local foods with soybean could improve children’s growth and micronutrient status in rural Bangladesh. Methods: Two primary schools were randomly assigned as intervention (SMP; n = 200) and control (non-SMP; n = 200) schools. Children in the intervention school were supplied a school meal with local foods including soybean, containing more than one-third of the recommended daily allowance of energy and nutrients, 5 days/week for 8 months. The attendance rate and school lunch consumption of the children were monitored. Baseline and final anthropometry, hemoglobin and micronutrient status were assessed. Results: There were no significant differences in anthropometric measurements at baseline between the intervention and control groups, but there were differences in the prevalence of anemia, vitamin A deficiency and zinc deficiency. After the intervention, children in the SMP school showed a larger degree of improvement in the height-for-age Z-score (P Conclusion: A school meal program using local foods with soybean improved the height velocity and hemoglobin concentration of children in rural Bangladesh.

Impact of Electrification on Children’s Nutritional Status in Rural Bangladesh

Summary Access to electricity has the potential to improve the nutritional status of children by a variety of pathways such as increased wealth, reduced fertility through the change in time use, spread of information through technology such as TV, and improved health care services. Yet, the relationship between electrification and children’s nutritional status is rarely explored in the literature. We attempt to fill this lacuna by offering microeconometric evidence from rural Bangladesh, where a rapid expansion of electrification and significant improvement in children’s nutritional status were observed in the past two decades. We find that access to electricity has a positive impact on the nutritional status of children under five as measured by height-for-age Z -score (HAZ) by around 0.1–0.2 points using five rounds of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey from 2000 to 2014. Our results also appear to indicate that the quality of electricity may influence the size of this positive impact. While our analysis of causal pathways is limited by the data availability, it suggests that the positive impact of electrification partially comes from increased wealth. For some years, the positive impact can also be attributed to reduced fertility and information exposure through TV viewing. On the contrary, we find little evidence that the impact is attributable to the improvement of local health facilities. Our findings underscore the importance of evaluating infrastructure programs such as rural electrification from a broad perspective as their impacts may go well beyond the economic benefits considered in a typical cost–benefit analysis. This in turn may encourage governments to invest more in basic infrastructure, which is still severely lacking in Bangladesh and many other countries in the rest of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

Distribution of chronic disease mortality and deterioration in household socioeconomic status in rural Bangladesh: an analysis over a 24-year period.

Little is known about long-term changes linking chronic diseases and poverty in low-income countries such as Bangladesh. This study examines how chronic disease mortality rates change across socioeconomic groups over time in Bangladesh, and whether such mortality is associated with households falling into poverty. Age-sex standardized chronic diseases mortality rates were estimated across socioeconomic groups in 1982, 1996 and 2005, using data from the health and demographic surveillance system in Matlab, Bangladesh. Changes in households falling below a poverty threshold after a chronic disease death were estimated between 1982-96 and 1996-2005. Age-sex standardized chronic disease mortality rates rose from 646 per 100 000 population in 1982 to 670 in 2005. Mortality rates were higher in wealthier compared with poorer households in 1982 [Concentration Index = 0.037; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.002, 0.072], but switched direction in 1996 (Concentration Index = -0.007; 95% CI: -0.023, 0.009), with an even higher concentration in the poor by 2005 (Concentration Index = -0.047; 95% CI: -0.061, -0.033). Between 1982-96 and 1996-2005, the highest chronic disease mortality rates were found among those households that fell below the poverty line. Households that had a chronic disease death in 1982 were 1.33 (95% CI: 1.03, 1.70) times more likely to fall below the poverty line in 1996 compared with households that did not. Chronic disease mortality is a growing proportion of the disease burden in Bangladesh, with poorer households being more affected over time periods, leading to future household poverty.

Gender ideology, microcredit participation and women's status in rural Bangladesh

PurposeMicrocredit has become a popular tool for women's socioeconomic development across the globe. The purpose of this study is to examine the influences of gender ideology on women's microcredit participation and their status within the household in rural Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted a cross‐sectional design. Data were collected from 342 randomly selected married men in five northwest villages. A path analysis was conducted to test the hypothesized model.FindingsAlmost 52 percent of the married women were microcredit‐borrowers. However, in 81 percent of cases the loans were fully controlled by their husbands. This study indicates that low socioeconomic status influences women borrowing loans while conservative gender ideology constrain them from using the loans. It also appears that their husbands' liberal gender ideology facilitates women's use of loans (active microcredit participation), which in turn improves their status as household co‐breadwinner.Research limitations/implicationsThough the study is based on men's reports and also correlational (not inferential) by nature, it provides a comprehensive understanding about the way microcredit intervention has been practiced in rural Bangladesh. This may have significant policy and practical implications.Practical implicationsThe study discuses under what conditions microcredit intervention can contribute to improve women's status in rural Bangladesh. It is recommended that microcredit intervention should address patriarchal ideology by creating an environment where people may have a chance to re‐think the importance of women's roles and contributions.Originality/valueThe study is original in the linking of theory, policy and practice in the context of patriarchal ideology and microcredit interventions for enhancing women's status in rural Bangladesh.

Effect of dietary fat supplementation during late pregnancy and first six months of lactation on maternal and infant vitamin A status in rural Bangladesh.

Dietary fat intake is extremely low in most communities with vitamin A deficiency. However, its role in vitamin A status of pregnant and lactating women is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to examine the effect of supplementing women with fat from mid-/late pregnancy until six months postpartum on their vitamin A status and that of their infants. Women recruited at 5-7 months of gestation were supplemented daily with 20 mL of soybean-oil (n = 248) until six months postpartum or received no supplement (n = 251). Dietary fat intake was assessed by 24-hour dietary recall at enrollment and at 1, 3 and 6 months postpartum. Concentrations of maternal plasma retinol, beta-carotene, and lutein were measured at enrollment and at 1, 3 and 6 months postpartum, and those of infants at six months postpartum. Concentration of breastmilk retinol was measured at 1, 3 and 6 months postpartum. The change in concentration of plasma retinol at three months postpartum compared to pregnancy was significantly higher in the supplemented compared to the control women (+0.04 vs -0.07 micromol/L respectively; p < 0.05). Concentrations of plasma beta-carotene and lutein declined in both the groups during the postpartum period but the decline was significantly less in the supplemented than in the control women at one month (beta-carotene -0.07 vs -0.13 micromol/L, p < 0.05); lutein -0.26 vs -0.49 micromol/L, p < 0.05) and three months (beta-carotene -0.04 vs -0.08 micromol/L, p < 0.05; lutein -0.31 vs -0.47 micromol/L, p < 0.05). Concentration of breastmilk retinol was also significantly greater in the supplemented group at three months postpartum than in the controls (0.68 +/- 0.35 vs 0.55 +/- 0.34 micromol/L respectively, p < 0.03). Concentrations of infants' plasma retinol, beta-carotene, and lutein, measured at six months of age, did not differ between the groups. Fat supplementation during pregnancy and lactation in women with a very low intake of dietary fat has beneficial effects on maternal postpartum vitamin A status.

Duration of Exclusive Breast-Feeding and Infant Iron and Zinc Status in Rural Bangladesh ,

There is a concern that exclusive breast-feeding (EBF) for 6 mo may lead to iron and zinc deficiency in low-birth weight (LBW) infants. We assessed the association between duration of EBF and infant iron and zinc status in the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab trial, Bangladesh, stratified for normal birth weigh (NBW) and LBW. Duration of EBF was classified into EBF <4 mo and EBF 4–6 mo based on monthly recalls of foods introduced to the infant. Blood samples collected at 6 mo were analyzed for plasma zinc (n = 1032), plasma ferritin (n = 1040), and hemoglobin (Hb) (n = 791). Infants EBF 4–6 mo had a higher mean plasma zinc concentration (9.9 ± 2.3 μmol/L) than infants EBF <4mo (9.5 ± 2.0 μmol/L) (P < 0.01). This association was apparent in only the NBW strata and was not reflected in a lower prevalence of zinc deficiency. Duration of EBF was not associated with concentration of plasma ferritin, Hb concentration, or prevalence of iron deficiency or anemia in any strata. Regardless of EBF duration, the prevalence of zinc deficiency, iron deficiency, and anemia was high in infants in this population and strategies to prevent deficiency are needed.

Menarche and its relation to nutritional status in rural Bangladesh

Menarche and its relation to nutritional status in rural Bangladesh

Food consumption, energy and nutrient intake and nutritional status in rural Bangladesh: changes from 1981-1982 to 1995-96.

To determine and evaluate changes in nutritional status, food consumption, energy and nutrient intake in rural Bangladesh, using appropriate statistical analyses. Repeated cross-sectional surveys. Two seasons in 1981-1982 and 1995-1996. Two villages with different production patterns. Anthropometric measurements of 1883 individuals, food consumption data of 404 households. Repeated measurements of one-day food weighing and anthropometry in two seasons in 1981-1982 and 1995-1996. Mixed model analyses were used to evaluate and quantify temporal changes and their interactions with determinants. Prevalence of underweight children decreased from 82 to 70% (P=0.015), wasted children from 34% to 18% (P=0.009) and chronic energy deficient adults decreased from 78 to 64% (P<0.0001). Intake of fish and green leafy vegetables increased from (l.s. mean+/-s.e.) 23+/-3.0 to 40+/-1.8 g/person/day (P<0.001) and from 28+/-4.5 to 41+/-2.7 g/person/day (P=0.019), respectively. Rice intake remained unchanged: 463+/-12 g raw/person/day in 1981-1982 and 450+/-7.3 g raw/person/day in 1995-1996 (P=0.355). Calcium and iron intakes increased by 40% (P<0.0001) and 16% (P=0.0002), respectively, whereas vitamin A intake remained unchanged. Nutritional status improved and intakes of nutrient dense food groups, fat, iron and calcium increased from 1981-1982 to 1995-1996.

Explaining Child Nutrition in Vietnam*

Previous articleNext article No AccessExplaining Child Nutrition in Vietnam*Dominique Haughton and Jonathan HaughtonDominique HaughtonBentley College Search for more articles by this author and Jonathan HaughtonNortheastern University Search for more articles by this author Bentley CollegeNortheastern UniversityPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Economic Development and Cultural Change Volume 45, Number 3April 1997 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/452290 Views: 63Total views on this site Citations: 24Citations are reported from Crossref © 1997 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Qihui Chen Population policy, family size and child malnutrition in Vietnam – Testing the trade-off between child quantity and quality from a child nutrition perspective, Economics & Human Biology 41 (May 2021): 100983.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2021.100983Tomoki Fujii Has the development gap between the ethnic minority and majority groups narrowed in Vietnam?: Evidence from household surveys, The World Economy 41, no.88 (Oct 2017): 2067–2101.https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.12578Tomoki Fujii, Abu S. Shonchoy, Sijia Xu Impact of Electrification on Children’s Nutritional Status in Rural Bangladesh, World Development 102 (Feb 2018): 315–330.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.07.016Andrea den Boer, Valerie Hudson Patrilineality, Son Preference, and Sex Selection in South Korea and Vietnam, Population and Development Review 43, no.11 (Feb 2017): 119–147.https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12041Hossein A. Abbasi, Seyed M. Karimi Children’s Gender and Men’s Income: Evidence from Iran, Review of Middle East Economics and Finance 13, no.11 (Jan 2017).https://doi.org/10.1515/rmeef-2016-0028Nael Aoun, Hirotaka Matsuda, Makiko Sekiyama Geographical accessibility to healthcare and malnutrition in Rwanda, Social Science & Medicine 130 (Apr 2015): 135–145.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.02.004Mohammad Mafijul Islam, Morshed Alam, Md Tariquzaman, Mohammad Alamgir Kabir, Rokhsona Pervin, Munni Begum, Md Mobarak Hossain Khan Predictors of the number of under-five malnourished children in Bangladesh: application of the generalized poisson regression model, BMC Public Health 13, no.11 (Jan 2013).https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-13-11Mats Målqvist, Dinh Thi Phuong Hoa, Sarah Thomsen Causes and determinants of inequity in maternal and child health in Vietnam, BMC Public Health 12, no.11 (Aug 2012).https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-12-641Richard H. Steckel Social and Economic Effects on Growth, (Jan 2012): 225–244.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-383882-7.00009-XAtheendar S. Venkataramani The intergenerational transmission of height: evidence from rural Vietnam, Health Economics 20, no.1212 (Nov 2010): 1448–1467.https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.1688Dominique Haughton, Jonathan Haughton Regression, (Jul 2011): 23–48.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0385-2_2Dominique Haughton, Jonathan Haughton Beyond Linear Regression, (Jul 2011): 67–90.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0385-2_4Miwa Kana, Han Phoumin, Fukui Seiichi Does Child Labour Have a Negative Impact on Child Education and Health? A Case Study in Rural Cambodia, Oxford Development Studies 38, no.33 (Sep 2010): 357–382.https://doi.org/10.1080/13600818.2010.505682T. Fujii Micro-Level Estimation of Child Undernutrition Indicators in Cambodia, The World Bank Economic Review 24, no.33 (Dec 2010): 520–553.https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/lhq016Walter Scheidel Greco-Roman Sex Ratios and Femicide in Comparative Perspective, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2010).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1505793Bob Baulch Ethnic Minority Poverty in Vietnam, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2010).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1719672Richard H. Steckel Heights and human welfare: Recent developments and new directions, Explorations in Economic History 46, no.11 (Jan 2009): 1–23.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2008.12.001I. Okike, Mohammad A. Jabbar, Gugsa Abate, Lema Ketema Household and environmental factors influencing anthropometric outcomes in preschool children in a rural Ethiopian community, Ecology of Food and Nutrition 44, no.33 (May 2005): 167–187.https://doi.org/10.1080/03670240590952990RAGHAV GAIHA, VEENA KULKARNI Anthropometric failure and persistence of poverty in rural India, International Review of Applied Economics 19, no.22 (Jan 2007): 179–197.https://doi.org/10.1080/02692170500031711Danièle Bélanger, Khuat Thi Hai Oanh, Liu Jianye, Thuy Le Thanh, Pham Viet Thanh Les rapports de masculinité à la naissance augmentent-ils au Vietnam ?, Population Vol. 58, no.22 (Apr 2003): 255–276.https://doi.org/10.3917/popu.302.0255Joel Deichmann, Abdolreza Eshghi, Dominique Haughton, Selin Sayek, Nicholas Teebagy Application of multiple adaptive regression splines (MARS) in direct response modeling, Journal of Interactive Marketing 16, no.44 (Aug 2002): 15–27.https://doi.org/10.1002/dir.10040Dominique van de Walle, Dileni Gunewardena Sources of ethnic inequality in Viet Nam, Journal of Development Economics 65, no.11 (Jun 2001): 177–207.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3878(01)00133-X Urban Livelihoods and Food and Nutrition Security in Greater Accra, Ghana, (Jan 2000).https://doi.org/10.2499/0896291154rr112James Blaylock, David Smallwood, Kathleen Kassel, Jay Variyam, Lorna Aldrich Economics, food choices, and nutrition, Food Policy 24, no.2-32-3 (May 1999): 269–286.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0306-9192(99)00029-9

Effects of age misstatement on the utility of age-dependent anthropometric indicators of nutritional status in rural Bangladesh.

We report the effects of age error on use of weight-for-age and height-for-age for assessing and screening malnutrition, and for identifying factors of malnutrition in 679 children aged 22-59 months in Companiganj, in rural Bangladesh. Overreporting and random error in age and correlation of age error with each of the anthropometric indices are observed. As a result, the proportion of children having less than or equal to 60 per cent of median weight-for-age is overestimated by five percentage points and the proportion having less than 80 per cent of median height-for-age is overestimated by six points. Loss in sensitivity (proportion of malnourished children correctly identified) for the above cutoff points is 20 per cent for weight-for-age and 28 per cent for height-for-age, compared to the situation in the absence of age error. Although mother's education is not a significant determinant of weight-for-age and height-for-age, age error makes mother's education appear artifactually significant in the analysis of variance.

Changes in maternal nutritional status in a chronically malnourished population in rural Bangladesh

This paper presents a descriptive analysis of maternal anthropometry in Bangladesh. Rural Bangladeshi women (aged 15–49) were found to have a mean height of 147.8 cm, mean weight of 40.8 kg with SD of 4.9 and arm circumference of 21.8 cm. Their mean weight was much lower than the weight for height standard and was negatively related to their ages. The prevalence of low hematocrit levels in this population was high (mean 34%). Nearly one tenth of the women had hematocrit levels of less than 30% even when not pregnant. A seasonal pattern of maternal nutrition was also seen, with a lean period from August through October. Body weight and hematocrit levels decreased in that period; weight gain is recorded in that period because pregnancy is also affected. This seasonal pattern of maternal weight and arm circumference correlated with seasonal availability of food. Overall, maternal nutritional status in rural Bangladesh was low at all times and was worsened by seasonal food scarcity and frequent pregnancies.

Intra-uterine Mortality and Maternal Nutritional Status in Rural Bangladesh

This paper is an investigation of the relationship of a maternal nutritional status with intra-uterine mortality in a population of chronically malnourished rural Bangladeshi women. First, life-table techniques are used to compare the level of intra-uterine mortality in this population with levels reported in other studies. Then the relationships of maternal nutritional status, age, parity, foetal loss and season of conception with intra-uterine mortality are examined in a multivariate analysis. The results indicate foetal mortality in rural Bangladesh to be markedly higher than in other populations where living conditions and health care are superior. Maternal nutritional status, maternal age and season of conception all appear to be related significantly to foetal mortality.

Fertility and Socio-Economic Status in Rural Bangladesh: Differentials and Linkages

Fertility and Socio-Economic Status in Rural Bangladesh: Differentials and Linkages