Nutrition, health and food security in poor Nutrition, health and food security in poor people of Sylhet division Nutrition, health and food security in poor people of Sylhet division

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.