At least 53,000 children die every year in Bangladesh due to complications related to malnutrition as the country is exposed to the highest rate of child and maternal malnutrition in the world.
Moreover, 45% of deaths among the Under-5 children are caused by malnutrition since millions of children suffer from one or more forms of malnutrition, including low birth weight, stunting, underweight and Vitamin A and Iodine deficiencies.
It is malnutrition that puts the children into a state of compulsion to usually suffer from psychological impairment and different forms of mental disorders that appear as threats to their future development.
According to statistics, 41% of the Under-5 children in Bangladesh are stunted, 36% of them underweight in terms of age and 16% are underweight compared to their height.
Among them, 51% are suffering from anemia. On the other hand, 42% adolescent girls in Bangladesh are exposed to malnutrition obviously due to their economic insolvency and, to some extents, lack of awareness.
Malnutrition travels from generation to generation because the malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished babies. If they are girls, these children often become malnourished mothers themselves, and this how the vicious cycle continues.
Nutrition experts said the future generation (children) of Bangladesh is in a vulnerable position on nutritional matters as millions of them are growing onward bearing the curse of malnutrition.
However, girls are more exposed to malnutrition than boys as they (girls) are sometimes deprived of nutritious foods in their families. Bangladesh can overcome the situation if more pragmatic efforts are taken in this regard, the experts said.
Statistics revealed that 25% women under 20 year of age, 57% women at the age of 20 and 17% women at the age of 30 become mothers in Bangladesh.
Director of Nutrition and Food Safety Centre of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) Tahmid Ahmed said early pregnancy caused many difficulties as both age and weight of the adolescent girls are not conducive to giving birth.
As a result, the weight of a baby inside the mother’s womb cannot be increased, Tahmid said, and so the mother has to give birth to an underweight baby which suffers from malnutrition.
There is a relation between child marriage and malnutrition. So, child marriage has to be prevented to address the malnutrition issue properly in the country, the ICDDR’B Director said.
According to the nutrition experts, Zinc is an essential component for human body especially for the pregnant women as its deficiency can cause a serious health hazard for the pregnant women and new mothers.
Zinc also supports normal growth and development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence and is required for proper sense of taste and smell.
Daily intake of zinc is required to maintain a steady state because the body has no specialized zinc storage system. Considering the zinc deficiency, Bangladesh has been taking hectic efforts to develop zinc supplement foods to address the zinc deficiency in Bangladesh.
Besides, lack of education and awareness is emerging as major impediments to face malnutrition challenges in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, a global initiative styled SUN movement has been launched under the auspices of different front organisations of the United Nations to eradicate malnutrition from the world aiming to build healthy and mentally sound future generations.