. Neyamul Akhter; . Farida Yasmin Sondhya
Volume 3, Issue 6 , June 2013, , Pages 1-7
Abstract
Introduction: This study estimated the nutritional as well as the severe thinness status (accordingto the World Health Organization [WHO]) of a low-income family’s adolescent ...
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Introduction: This study estimated the nutritional as well as the severe thinness status (accordingto the World Health Organization [WHO]) of a low-income family’s adolescent girl and alsotheir early age of life in both urban and rural adolescent girls in Bangladesh. Materials andMethods: This cross-sectional study measured the height, weight and muac by standardprocedure 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 samplingwas used to select the study population from two locations in Bangladesh: Dhaka city and theeast 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 ofrespondents (n=107/group). Results: Results revealed that economic status had a significanteffect on nutritional status. Nutritional status of low-income families’ adolescent were lowboth 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 andP-value = 0.01), and was also higher at an earlier age of their life. In food intake distribution andfood consumption status, the same results were seen. The percentage of never eat meat and fishof 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 thatof rural adolescents per day. The study also shows that intake of energy, protein, carbohydrateand fat were significantly different between urban and rural girls. Only 53% energy was coveredof the recommended daily energy intake in urban adolescents. Conclusion: Based on the foodrecall and anthropometric results, we conclude that malnutrition is common in low-income family’sadolescents, and the severe thinness rate is much higher in urban than in rural adolescents, asalso their early age of life in both low-income family’s adolescents girls in Bangladesh.
