Nutrition and Food Security in Bangladesh: Achievements, Challenges, and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Rural-urban disparities in nutritional status among ever-married women in Bangladesh: A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition approach

This study aims to investigate socioeconomic disparities in nutritional status among ever-married women in Bangladesh and to break down urban-rural differences in the underlying causes of undernutrition. We utilized data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18, a sample size of 18328 ever-married women, including 5170 from urban residences, and 13159 from rural residences. To explore socioeconomic inequality, we employed a concentration indexing measure, while a multiple binary logistic regression model was carried out to identify the determinants associated with the outcome variable. A Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition analysis was performed to decompose the urban-rural gap in women's nutritional status using associated factors. The prevalence of undernutrition among ever-married women in Bangladesh was 12 percent. Notably, this percentage varied by region, with urban residents accounting for 8.6% and rural residents accounting for 13.3%. Our findings confirmed that undernutrition was more prevalent among women with lower wealth indexes in Bangladesh, as indicated by the concentration index (CIX = -0.26). The multivariable analysis investigating the determinants of undernutrition status among ever-married women, with a focus on residence revealed significant associations with respondent age, education, marital status, mass media access, wealth status, and division. According to the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition and its extension, the prevalence was significantly higher in rural residences of Bangladesh than in urban residences, and the endowment effect explained 86 percent of the total urban-rural difference in undernutrition prevalence. The results of this study indicate that the factors that influence women's nutritional status in rural areas play a significant role in the gap, and the majority of the gap is caused by education and economic position. In order to effectively promote maternal health policies in Bangladesh, intervention techniques should be created that are aimed at the population, that is, the poorest and least educated.

Toxicity Analysis of Some Frequently Used Food Processing Chemicals Using Allium cepa Biomonitoring System

Frequent use of various food processing chemical agents sometimes causes damage to our bodies by inducing cytotoxicity, genotoxicity, and mutagenesis. In Bangladesh, among various chemical agents, formalin, saccharin, and urea are vastly used for processing foodstuffs by industry and local people. This study is focused to assess the toxic effects of formalin, saccharin, and urea on the popularly used eukaryotic test model, Allium cepa L. The assay was carried out by exposing different concentrations of test samples to A. cepa at 24, 48, and 72 h, where distilled water and CuSO₄·5H₂O (0.6 µg/mL) were utilized as the vehicle and positive control, respectively. The root length of the onions was measured in mm, and the results propose that all the chemical agents demonstrated toxicity in onions in a concentration- and exposure-time-dependent manner. The highest root length was examined at the lower concentrations, and with the increase in the concentration of the test sample and exposure time, the RG (root growth) was inhibited due to the deposition of chemicals and hampering of cell division in the root meristematic region of A. cepa. All the chemical agents also revealed a concentration- and time-dependent adaptive effect up to 72 h inspection of 24 h and a depletion of % root growth at 72 h inspection of 48 h. Our study suggests that sufficient precautions should be confirmed during its industrial and traditional usage as a toxicological response to the chemical agents observed in the A. cepa assay.

Exploring the Factors Associated with Dietary Diversity of Children Aged 6-59 Months in Some Rural and Slum Areas of Bangladesh amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Effect Regression Analysis

Background

Dietary diversity (DD) is a key component of diet quality, and malnutrition due to poor diet quality leads to child morbidity and mortality. However, in Bangladesh, there is a lack of information on childhood DD (for children aged 6-59 mo) amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Objectives

The purpose of this study was to assess the minimum DD and its associated factors among children aged 6-59 mo during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out in 6 districts of Bangladesh. A total of 1190 respondents were included using cluster random sampling. The Individual Dietary Diversity Score (IDDS) for children was used to assess the children's DD. Factors associated with DD of children were identified using a multilevel binary logistics regression model.

Results

About 70% of the children aged 6-59 mo had minimum DD during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Children who belonged to slum areas [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 0.45; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.83], family income 12,000-15,000 Bangladeshi taka (BDT) (AOR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.06, 3.05) and >15,000 BDT (AOR: 2.59; 95% CI: 1.47, 4.57), mothers aged 26-30 y (AOR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.62) and >30 y (AOR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.85), respondents who had 2 children <5 y old (AOR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.28, 0.66), and children aged 12-23 mo (AOR: 1.89; 95% CI: 1.14, 3.20) were significantly associated with DD among children aged 6-59 mo.

Conclusions

The findings of this study highlight the need for food and nutrition-related intervention, particularly targeting mothers of younger age and with >2 children <5 y old, mothers from slum regions, and fathers who were unemployed, to improve children's DD practices.