Table 1.
Selected background characteristics and prevalence of malnutrition among 28 941 children aged less than 5 years: Bangladesh demographic and health surveys 1996–1997, 1999–2000, 2004, 2007 and 2011
| Characteristics | 1996–1997 (n = 4706) | 1999–2000 (n = 5351) | 2004 (n = 5937) | 2007 (n = 5300) | 2011 (n = 7647) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | n | Mean (%) | Total | |
| Gender of child | ||||||||||||
| Female | 50.3 | 2353 | 49.3 | 2639 | 49.3 | 2932 | 50.4 | 2628 | 49.2 | 3740 | 49.7 | 14 292 |
| Male | 49.7 | 2353 | 50.7 | 2712 | 50.7 | 3005 | 49.6 | 2672 | 50.8 | 3907 | 50.3 | 14 649 |
| Age of child (in months) | ||||||||||||
| <12 | 20.3 | 943 | 21.0 | 1109 | 19.5 | 1170 | 20.0 | 1049 | 19.5 | 1484 | 20.1 | 5 755 |
| 12–23 | 19.8 | 941 | 21.0 | 1129 | 19.7 | 1169 | 20.5 | 1095 | 18.8 | 1443 | 19.9 | 5 777 |
| 24–35 | 19.6 | 922 | 19.2 | 1036 | 20.0 | 1216 | 20.2 | 1073 | 18.5 | 1441 | 19.5 | 5 688 |
| 36–47 | 20.4 | 959 | 18.5 | 991 | 20.7 | 1216 | 19.4 | 1048 | 22.2 | 1679 | 20.2 | 5 893 |
| 48–59 | 20.0 | 941 | 20.3 | 1086 | 20.1 | 1166 | 19.9 | 1035 | 21.1 | 1600 | 20.3 | 5 828 |
| Maternal education | ||||||||||||
| No education | 55.7 | 2572 | 46.4 | 2385 | 37.5 | 2118 | 26.8 | 1420 | 20.0 | 1449 | 37.3 | 9 944 |
| Primary | 27.6 | 1337 | 29.1 | 1559 | 31.3 | 1868 | 31.6 | 1659 | 30.7 | 2330 | 30.1 | 8 753 |
| Secondary or higher | 16.7 | 797 | 24.4 | 1407 | 31.2 | 1951 | 41.6 | 2219 | 49.3 | 3868 | 32.6 | 10 242 |
| Maternal body mass index (BMI) | ||||||||||||
| Underweight (BMI ≤18.5 kg m−2) | 51.9 | 2233 | 45.4 | 2183 | 38.2 | 2084 | 32.4 | 1610 | 28.5 | 2053 | 38.1 | 10 163 |
| Normal (18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 kg m−2) | 45.5 | 1977 | 50.6 | 2552 | 56.4 | 3146 | 60.0 | 2941 | 60.0 | 4266 | 55.2 | 14 882 |
| Overweight (BMI ≥25 kg m−2) | 2.6 | 115 | 4.0 | 238 | 5.4 | 360 | 7.6 | 455 | 11.5 | 900 | 6.7 | 2068 |
| Maternal working status | ||||||||||||
| Not working | 66.0 | 3126 | 82.5 | 4456 | 82.3 | 4915 | 73.3 | 4036 | 90.9 | 6918 | 79.0 | 23 451 |
| Working | 34.0 | 1578 | 17.5 | 895 | 17.8 | 1022 | 26.7 | 1263 | 9.1 | 729 | 21.0 | 5 487 |
| Paternal education | ||||||||||||
| No education | 46.4 | 2131 | 43.3 | 2176 | 40.1 | 2243 | 35.1 | 1787 | 29.7 | 2141 | 38.9 | 10 478 |
| Primary | 26.5 | 1262 | 25.0 | 1296 | 27.4 | 1622 | 28.0 | 1474 | 29.1 | 2224 | 27.2 | 7 878 |
| Secondary or higher | 27.1 | 1273 | 31.7 | 1800 | 32.5 | 2069 | 36.9 | 2033 | 41.2 | 3276 | 33.9 | 10 451 |
| Residence | ||||||||||||
| Urban | 9.4 | 636 | 16.4 | 1366 | 19.6 | 1771 | 21.0 | 1850 | 22.1 | 2342 | 17.7 | 7 965 |
| Rural | 90.6 | 4070 | 83.6 | 3985 | 80.4 | 4166 | 79.0 | 3450 | 77.9 | 5305 | 82.3 | 20 976 |
| Division | ||||||||||||
| Barisal | 6.5 | 488 | 6.1 | 469 | 6.0 | 656 | 6.4 | 696 | 5.4 | 837 | 6.1 | 3 146 |
| Chittagong | 24.6 | 852 | 22.2 | 1166 | 22.1 | 1302 | 21.8 | 1093 | 22.7 | 1516 | 22.7 | 5 929 |
| Dhaka | 31.3 | 1302 | 31.3 | 1287 | 30.7 | 1294 | 31.8 | 1122 | 31.3 | 1272 | 31.3 | 6 277 |
| Khulna | 10.1 | 465 | 10.4 | 796 | 10.9 | 776 | 9.6 | 630 | 9.4 | 894 | 10.1 | 3 561 |
| Rajshahi | 21.3 | 1063 | 22.7 | 942 | 22.2 | 1129 | 22.0 | 856 | 12.6 | 916 | 20.1 | 4 906 |
| Sylhet | 6.3 | 536 | 7.3 | 691 | 8.2 | 780 | 8.4 | 903 | 7.7 | 1219 | 7.6 | 4 129 |
| Rangpur | 10.9 | 993 | – | 993 | ||||||||
| Household wealth quintile | ||||||||||||
| Poorest | 21.4 | 974 | 25.1 | 1247 | 25.2 | 1353 | 22.4 | 1050 | 23.6 | 1682 | 23.5 | 6 306 |
| Poorer | 23.1 | 1048 | 22.1 | 1106 | 20.6 | 1127 | 21.6 | 1089 | 20.4 | 1489 | 21.6 | 5 859 |
| Middle | 19.4 | 920 | 19.3 | 997 | 19.7 | 1112 | 19.4 | 996 | 19.4 | 1456 | 19.4 | 5 481 |
| Richer | 19.8 | 914 | 17.3 | 919 | 18.1 | 1080 | 18.9 | 991 | 19.1 | 1493 | 18.6 | 5 397 |
| Richest | 16.4 | 850 | 16.2 | 1082 | 16.5 | 1265 | 17.8 | 1174 | 17.5 | 1527 | 16.9 | 5 898 |
| Prevalence of malnutrition | ||||||||||||
| Stunting | 60.0 | 2823 | 51.2 | 2698 | 50.5 | 2951 | 42.9 | 2210 | 41.2 | 3110 | 49.2 | 13 792 |
| Underweight | 52.2 | 2443 | 41.8 | 2203 | 42.4 | 2461 | 40.8 | 2109 | 36.2 | 2738 | 42.7 | 11 954 |
| Wasting | 20.6 | 958 | 12.3 | 656 | 14.6 | 844 | 17.4 | 898 | 15.5 | 1184 | 16.1 | 4 540 |