Nutritional and dietary diversity status of under-5 children and adolescent girls among forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals living in Bhasan Char relocation camp, Bangladesh: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

Objective: To generate baseline evidence regarding the nutritional and dietary diversity status of under-5 children and adolescent girls among forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMN) relocated to Bhasan Char relocation camp of Bangladesh.

Design: Cross-sectional survey.

Setting: Bhasan Char relocation camp, Bangladesh, 7 November 2021-12 November 2021.

Participants: 299 under-5 children (both male and female) and 248 adolescent girls (11-17 years) were surveyed.

Outcome measures: Anthropometric indices and nutritional status of the study participants.

Results: Nearly 17% of the adolescent girls were suffering from severe thinness/thinness, while 5% were overweight/obese. Severe thinness was more prevalent (2% vs 3.9%) in older adolescents (15-17 years) than their younger counterparts (11-14 years). The prevalence of severe stunting and stunting in adolescents were 14% (95% CI 11.21 to 16.87%) and 29% (95% CI 25.93 to 31.59%), respectively. One-third of the surveyed under-5 children were severely (8.50% (95% CI 5.60 to 11.33%)) or moderately (23.08% (95% CI 20.24 to 25.90%)) stunted, 27% were either severely (4.43% (95% CI 1.60 to 7.27%)) or moderately (22.98% (95% CI 20.15 to 25.81%)) underweight and 12% were severely (1.21% (95% CI 0.00 to 4.04%)) or moderately (10.88% (95% CI 8.05 to 13.72%)) wasted. The prevalence of moderate and severe acute malnutrition in children was low. Surveyed adolescents took a mean of 3.10 (SD 1.03) of nine food groups and 25% (95% CI 22.97 to 28.64%) of under-5 children took minimum diversified diet. The survey respondents mostly consumed carbohydrate-based poorly diversified diets. Nutritional status of the participants did not show any statistically significant association to the dietary diversity status.

Conclusion: A significant number of surveyed under-5 children and adolescent girls of relocated FDMN living in Bhasan Char of Bangladesh were suffering from thinness, stunting, underweight and wasting. Dietary diversity was poor among the surveyed population.

Keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; NUTRITION & DIETETICS; PUBLIC HEALTH.