Factors associated with duration of breastfeeding in Bangladesh: evidence from Bangladesh demographic and health survey 2014.

BACKGROUND: Breastfeeding for optimum duration is one of the most effective ways to reduce infant morbidity and mortality and confirms expected growth and development of children. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of socio-demographic and anthropometric determinants on duration of breastfeeding (DB) among mothers in Bangladesh. METHODS: The data was extracted from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS)-2014. A total of 3541 married non-pregnant and currently non-breastfeeding Bangladeshi mothers in reproductive age who had at least one child aged 6-36 months were included in this study. Independent sample t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to find the significance difference in DB between two and more than two groups respectively. Multiple linear regression model was utilized to determine the effect of socio-economic, demographic, anthropometric and health related variables on DB. RESULTS: This study revealed that the mean and median of DB among Bangladeshi mothers were 18.91 (95% CI: 18.65-19.17) and 19.00 months respectively. Independent sample t-test and ANOVA showed that DB among Bangladeshi mothers was significantly influenced by (i) ANC visits, (ii) religion, (iii) mode of delivery, (iv) place of delivery, (v) parents' education, (vi) geographical location, (vii) mothers' occupation and (viii) household wealth quintile. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that mothers' age, total number of children, mothers' age at first birth, ANC visits, mothers' occupation and geographical location were important predictors of DB. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare providers and decision makers can consider these findings to make plan for counseling of mothers and family members to promote optimum DB practice in first 2 years of baby's life.

Correction to: Factors influencing childhood anaemia in Bangladesh: a two level logistic regression analysis.

Following publication of the original article [1], the authors reported that name that appeared in published online version is incorrect.

Factors influencing childhood anaemia in Bangladesh: a two level logistic regression analysis.

BACKGROUND: Anemia is not only a major public health problem among children in developing countries, it is also an important predictor for their future growth and development. The objective of this study was to identify possible factors associated with anemia among pre-school children in Bangladesh after removing a cluster effect of the population, and to determine the prevalence of this condition. METHODS: Data for this study was extracted from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS-2011). In this survey, data was collected using a two-stage stratified cluster sampling approach. The chi-square test and a two-level logistic regression model were used for further analysis. RESULTS: Data from 2231 children aged 6-59 months were included for analysis. The prevalence of child anemia was noted to be 52.10%. Among these anemic children, 48.40% where from urban environment and 53.90% were from rural areas. The prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anemia among children was 57.10, 41.40 and 1.50% respectively. The two-level logistic regression model revealed that the following factors were associated with childhood anemia: children of anemic mothers (p < 0.01), undernourished children (p < 0.05), younger children (age < 2 years) (p < 0.01) and children from poor family (p < 0.05). Lastly, anemia was more common among children living in Barisal and Rangpur divisions compared to those from Dhaka division (p < 0.01), and among non-Muslims than Muslim (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed that prevalence of anemia among pre-school children in Bangladesh was very high (52.10%). We noted that young children of anemic mothers, from poor families, and being undernourished were at higher risk of developing anemia. Since most of these risk factors were related to socioeconomic conditions, they were potentially modifiable. Therefore, our findings may be useful for the health authorities to identify children at risk for remedial action and to plan for preventive measures.

MULTILEVEL LINEAR REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF FACTORS INFLUENCING BODY MASS INDEX AMONG BANGLADESHI MARRIED NON-PREGNANT WOMEN.

The aim of this study was to investigate the socioeconomic and demographic factors influencing the body mass index (BMI) of non-pregnant married Bangladeshi women of reproductive age. Secondary (Hierarchy) data from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, collected using two-stage stratified cluster sampling, were used. Two-level linear regression analysis was performed to remove the cluster effect of the variables. The mean BMI of married non-pregnant Bangladeshi women was 21.60±3.86 kg/m2, and the prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity was 22.8%, 14.9% and 3.2%, respectively. After removing the cluster effect, age and age at first marriage were found to be positively (p<0.01) related with BMI. Number of children was negatively related with women's BMI. Lower BMI was especially found among women from rural areas and poor families, with an uneducated husband, with no television at home and who were currently breast-feeding. Age, total children ever born, age at first marriage, type of residence, education level, level of husband's education, wealth index, having a television at home and practising breast-feeding were found to be important predictors for the BMI of married Bangladeshi non-pregnant women of reproductive age. This information could be used to identify sections of the Bangladeshi population that require special attention, and to develop more effective strategies to resolve the problem of malnutrition.