Abstract:
Sylhet has branded itself as one of the richest and tourist attractive areas of
Bangladesh. Contrarily nutrition indicators reflect that malnutrition level is very
high here. Sylhet being a flood prone area, is a region of hoar where the farmers
have to rely on one single crop - the boro paddy being. If the borocrop fails, the
households become insecured by food, which could push thousands of families
into poverty.
This study attempts to investigate the food security status at household level
along with health and nutritional status of poor people in Sylhet division. In
addition, attempt has also been taken to evaluate the dietary intake and nutrient
intake patterns of the studied population. Calorie intake and income were used
as poverty indicators.
Secondary data collected from the Nutrition, Health and Demographic Survey of
Bangladesh – 2011 was used in the study. From the 1000 PSUs (Primary
Sampling Unit) selected by BBS for whole Bangladesh, 14 PSUs comprising 350
households of Sylhet division was taken in this investigation. A pre-tested
questionnaire was used to collect the data. It was collected by interviewing the
household head. Data collection started in March, 2011 and ended in March,
2012. Nutritional status was measured by both direct (anthropometric) and
indirect (dietary intake) methods. SPSS (version 21) was applied for data entry
and analysis. Food security was calculated by the information of food shortage
which is provided by interviewed population.
This study revealed that 19.7% households were lived in food insecurity. About
51% male and 46% female of under 5 years of age was stunted, and it was
associated with income, expenditure, education and food security status. The
incidence of stunting is decreasing with the higher income, expenditure,
education and in food secured family. It observed that 82% male and 50%female
of adolescent household were under weight, 61.9% male and 55.2% female of
old people were under weight. Nutritional status, particularly stunting was
associated with food security. It was found that 87.6% of under 5 years children
were immunized, 8.6% of the children were suffering from diarrhea, and 100%
adolescent and 95.7% non-pregnant women were anemic in the Sylhet division.
It was observed that almost 72% old people were suffering from various
diseases. It is evident that food insecurity is associated with nutritional status.
