Nutritional status, dietary food and nutrient consumption patterns in Monga affected area of the northern part of Bangladesh

Abstract

Monga is a common phenomenon in the northwestern part of Bangladesh and food insecurity and nutritional problem are more severe. The purpose of the study was to assess the nutritional status, dietary foods and nutrient intake of the Monga affected people in the northern part of Bangladesh. A cross-sectional survey was carried out among the randomly selected 125 households in the Ramna union of Chilmari, by a well-designed semi-structured questionnaire. The results indicate that 45.5, 49.4 and 20.8% of children less than 5 years of age were stunted, underweight and wasted, respectively. The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting of the school going children (aged 5-10 years) were also 35, 48.9 and 31.6%, respectively. More than half of adolescent were severely chronic energy deficient. The average per capita intakes of calorie, protein, fat, carbohydrate and total food was 2455.4 kcal, 55.06, 18.37, 512.58 and 1050 g, respectively. The most significant amount of the dietary energy comes from cereals (about 80%) and followed by potato and vegetables. In conclusion, high prevalence of chronic malnutrition (stunting) was recorded in the under 5 years children. Though it was observed that, the average per capita energy (2455 kcal) and food (1053 g) intake was satisfactory but the intra family food distribution was not in proper balance and their dietary intake highly monotonous.