Nutritional status of under five children among Manipuri population of Bangladesh

Abstract

Background:Under nutrition is a human disaster on a vast scale especially among children in rural communities globally. Objective: To see the nutritional status of under five children of Manipuri population of Bangladesh. Methodology: This cross-sectional study was conducted among Manipuri population ofthree villages of Kamalganj(Mangalpur, Madabpur and Tilakpur) under Moulovibazar district during the period October 2010 to December 2014 using a semi-structured questionnaire. Sampling technique was purposive and the data was collected by face to face interview. Z score was in in each anthropometric parameter. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 21 and compared with national data. Results: Among the study children, 56.9% were of Bishnupriya, 26.9% were Meitei and 16.2% were of Meiteipangan sub-group of Manipuri population. Mean age was 22±12.6 months and 61.6% were male and 38.4% were female. Majority (88.2%) of the mothers was housewives and most of them are educated. Among the children 93% were completely immunized as per EPI schedule, 48.8% were exclusively breast feed and 67.3% started complementary feeding on time. Amongst study children, 19.3% were underweight, 27.5% were stunted and 8.96% were wasted.By specific blood nutrient parameters, 63.7% were found anaemic (Hb<10 gm/dl), 39.8% had serum ferritin level below 15ng/ml. The association between haemoglobin and serum ferritin was found statistically significant(p<0.05).Amongst study children, 29.92% had protein of below standard (6.2 gm/dl), 17.6% had serum albumin level below 3.5 gm/dl, 52.3% had serum iron level below 50 µg/dl, 11.3% had serum Vitamin D level below 20 ng/ml and 26.79% had serum zinc level below 700 µg/l. Protein, albumin and ferritin level were found having significant association with wasting (p-value 0.044, 0.001 and 0.05 respectively). Conclusion:The study shows that the nutritional indicators of under 5 children of Manipuri population is reasonably good. The frequency of malnutrition in Manipuri children is lower than those obtained from national data.This study also finds higher frequency of anaemia and some micronutrient deficiency in Manipuri community of Bangladesh.