Prevalence and correlates of severe under-5 child anthropometric failure measured by the composite index of severe anthropometric failure in Bangladesh

Mohammad Rocky Khan Chowdhury; Hafiz T A Khan; Mamunur Rashid; Md Nazrul Islam Mondal; Farzana Akhter Bornee; Baki Billah

doi:10.3389/fped.2022.978568

Prevalence and correlates of severe under-5 child anthropometric failure measured by the composite index of severe anthropometric failure in Bangladesh

Front Pediatr. 2022 Sep 14:10:978568. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.978568. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mohammad Rocky Khan Chowdhury¹, Hafiz T A Khan², Mamunur Rashid³, Md Nazrul Islam Mondal⁴, Farzana Akhter Bornee⁵, Baki Billah¹

Affiliations

¹ Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.
² Health Promotion and Public Health, College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare, University of West London, London, United Kingdom.
³ Department of Public Health Science, Faculty of Occupational and Health Sciences, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden.
⁴ Population Science and Human Resource Development, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Abstract

Background: Although Bangladesh has made noticeable progress in reducing the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and being underweight among under-5 children, it has not been very successful in reducing overall severe anthropometric failure (SAF) among them. Therefore, the study aims to identify the prevalence and risk factors of SAF measured by the Composite Index of Severe Anthropometric Failure (CISAF) among under-5 children in Bangladesh.

Methods: Data was drawn from a cross-sectional Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS) conducted in 2017-2018. A bivariate analysis (Chi-square test) and logistic regression analysis were used to estimate the unadjusted, and age and sex-adjusted prevalence of SAF. Odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) were assessed using logistic regression analysis to identify the various risk factor of SAF.

Results: The overall adjusted prevalence of under-5 child SAF was 11.3% (95% CI: 10.6-12.0) and it was highly prevalent among children of uneducated mothers (adjusted, 22%, 95% CI: 17.3-26.8). The key factors associated with SAF were children in the age group 24-35 months (OR: 2.43, 95% CI: 1.83-3.23), children born with low birth weight (OR: 3.14, 95% CI: 2.24-4.97), children of underweight mothers (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.44-2.29), children of parents with no formal education (OR: 2.28, 95% CI: 1.56-3.31) and children from lower socio-economic status (OR: 2.25, 95% CI: 1.55-3.26).

Conclusion: Prioritizing and ensuring context-specific interventions addressing individual, community, public policy, and environment level risk factors from policy level to implementation to reduce structural and intermediary determinants of under-5 SAF.

Keywords: Bangladesh; children; determinants; severe malnutrition; undernutrition.