Hunger is associated with food insecurity at the household level and is considered as a global public health problem with long term adverse consequences on children’s health. This study aims to determine the factors associated with child hunger from a nationally representative sample in Bangladesh among food insecure households. Data was derived from the Food Security and Nutritional Surveillance Project; 14,712 children aged 6–59 months belonging to food insecure households contributed to the analysis. Information on food security at the household level was collected for 30 days preceding the survey. Descriptive statistics served to illustrate the variables studied and multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify the significant risk factors for child hunger. Overall 10% of the children were found to be hungry. After adjusting for seasonality, residence type and education level of household head, the variables - female headed households [OR: 1.87 (1.43–2.45); p < 0.001], severely food insecure households [OR: 10.5 (1.43–76.6); p < 0.05], households having women with no education [OR: 1.56 (1.27–1.92); p < 0.05], poorest asset quintile [OR: 1.50 (1.11–2.15); p < 0.05] and the amount of rice consumed per household per week [OR: 0.94 (0.92–0.96); p < 0.001] were found to be significantly and independently associated with child hunger. Out of the potential risk factors examined, our study found significant and independent association of five variables with child hunger: sex of the household head, household food insecurity status, educational status of household women and asset index. Despite all sampled household being food insecure, degree of household food insecurity status appeared to be the strongest predictor of child hunger.

Handwashing practices among caretakers of case and control children < 5 years of age enrolled in the Global Enteric Multicenter Study in Mirzapur, Bangladesh were characterized and analyzed for association with moderate-to-severe diarrhea. Soap or detergent ownership was common, yet 48% of case and 47.7% of control caretakers also kept ashes for handwashing, including 36.8% of the wealthiest households. Soap, detergent, and ash were used for multiple hygiene purposes and were kept together at handwashing areas. Caretakers preferred soap for handwashing, but frequently relied on ash, or a detergent/ash mixture, as a low-cost alternative. Moderate-to-severe diarrhea was equally likely for children of caretakers who kept soap versus those who kept ash (matched OR = 0.91; 0.62–1.32). Contact with ash and water reduced concentrations of bacterial enteropathogens, without mechanical scrubbing. Thus, washing hands with ash is a prevalent behavior in Mirzapur and may help diminish transmission of diarrheal pathogens to children.

The adolescence period is considered a life stage worthy of strategic health investments since it is a critical period of physical and neuro-maturational development. Adolescent girls face different health difficulties in that phase of life. Children born to adolescent mothers are at a higher risk of undernutrition. This paper aims to estimate the prevalence of stunting among adolescent mothers and their children in Bangladesh by time period and determine the associated factors of adolescent maternal stunting status. We also sought to establish the relationship between maternal and childhood stunting by comparing the geographical regions in Bangladesh. We derived data from the nationally representative Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, which was conducted between 2007 and 2017/18. The outcome variables of this study were ever-married adolescent girls’ stunting status and their children’s stunting status. Interaction analysis between administrative division and maternal stunting status was conducted with childhood stunting as the outcome variable to investigate the impact of maternal stunting status on their children’s stunting compared to geographical location. Our results indicated that in comparison to other divisions, the frequency of stunting among children and adolescent mothers was higher in the Sylhet region. It also revealed that children whose mothers were stunted had a 2.36 times increased chance of being stunted. Our study suggests that education for women could help them attain self-sufficiency and, as a result, reduce the prevalence of poor childhood nutrition, especially stunting.

Malnutrition among women is a long‐standing public health concern that has significant adverse consequences on the survival and healthy development of children. Maternal mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC) could potentially represent a simpler alternative to traditional nutritional indicators. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with low maternal MUAC (as an indicator of being underweight) and address the research question of whether maternal MUAC is significantly associated with children's nutritional status among poor and very poor households in rural Bangladesh. Data on 5,069 households were extracted from the Suchana programme baseline survey, which was carried out in 80 randomly selected unions (the lowest administrative unit of Bangladesh) in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts between November 2016 and February 2017. The outcome variables were three child nutritional status indicators: wasting, stunting and underweight. Mothers were classified as underweight if their MUAC was less than 23 cm. Separate multiple logistic regression analyses were used to determine the factors potentially associated with maternal underweight status and explore whether maternal underweight status is significantly associated with children's nutritional status. The prevalence of maternal underweight status was 46.7%, and the prevalence of wasting, stunting and underweight among children under two were 10.5%, 44.4% and 31.9%, respectively. After controlling for various socio‐economic and demographic characteristics, maternal MUAC was significantly associated with children's nutritional status in rural Bangladesh.

Child wasting is defined as a weight‐for‐height/length z‐score (WLZ/WHZ) < −2, and this indicator of nutritional status is used worldwide. However, a precise measurement is required for the assessment of a child's nutritional status, which may not always be possible due to expensive instruments, especially in poor resource settings. In some instances, mid‐upper arm circumference‐for‐age z‐score (MUACZ) is also being used for screening purposes, which is a simple and useful nutritional indicator. The objective of this paper is to identify the optimal cut‐off point for the MUACZ to identify wasted children, and also to determine if the same factors are associated with MUACZ and wasting. Data were derived from the Suchana evaluation data. The optimal cut‐off value was estimated via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis using acute malnutrition as a gold standard with maximum sensitivity and specificity. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the associated factors with the MUACZ. Using the gold standard indicator of nonwasting (WLZ ≥ −2), a positive outcome, the optimal cut‐off point for the MUACZ was −1.27. The area under the ROC curve was 0.88, indicating that the model had a power of 88% to differentiate between the positive and negative classes. It implies that a child's MUACZ was correlated with WLZ, and a MUACZ below −1.27 appeared to accurately identify wasting among children aged 3–23 months. MUACZ < −1.27 might be another useful indicator of childhood wasting than a WLZ < −2.

Adequate maternal healthcare practices are crucial to both maternal and infant nutrition outcomes. The Sylhet region of Bangladesh is vulnerable and performs poorly, as maternal and child health indicators are falling behind compared to other areas. Suchana, a large‐scale intervention programme aims to improve the health and nutritional status of mothers and children in this region. The objective of the present analysis is to assess the changes in indicators related to maternal healthcare practices among Suchana beneficiaries. We obtained data from the Suchana baseline and endline evaluation survey. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize data. The following maternal healthcare practices were considered: if a Suchana beneficiary mother received antenatal care (ANC) from skilled service providers, took day time resting during pregnancy, consumed additional diet during pregnancy, took at least 100 iron‐folic acid (IFA) tablets during pregnancy and took a vitamin A capsule after delivery. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the impact of the Suchana intervention on maternal healthcare practices. The prevalence of the outcome variables at endline in the intervention area were as follows: 40% of mothers received at least four ANC from skilled service providers, 50% practiced daytime resting during pregnancy, 51% consumed additional diet during pregnancy, 41% took at least 100 iron‐folic acid tablets during pregnancy, 39% received postnatal care and 30% took a vitamin A capsule after delivery. The Suchana intervention significantly, positively improved indicators related to maternal healthcare practices; these findings support future larger‐scale programmes to improve maternal healthcare practices among vulnerable people in rural Bangladesh.