It is shocking to note that 53,000 children are estimated to die in Bangladesh every year due to complications related to high rates of child and maternal malnutrition. This has grave consequences for development and must be tackled as an urgent priority.
Research has found that 45% of deaths among children under the age of 5 are caused by malnutrition. Those living with malnutrition also suffer from long-term developmental challenges such as stunted growth, chronic vitamin A and iodine deficiencies, and psychological impairment.
Many factors contribute to this problem, but one that clearly stands out is the state of health of girls and young women. It has been found that girls suffer from a greater degree of malnutrition than boys since they tend to be neglected in favour of boys. Young malnourished girls not only suffer the consequences for the rest of their lives but their state of health also impacts future generations since malnourished mothers give birth to malnourished babies.
The scourge of child marriage also contributes to this problem since the bodies of adolescent girls are not equipped to give birth to babies of healthy weight.
While Bangladesh has made great strides in reducing the level of poverty and in banishing outright starvation, the dire statistics on malnutrition make it clear that there is still a long way to go in ensuring that we have a healthy and thriving populace.
Focus is needed to ensure appropriate nutrition for all young girls and better education and awareness of nutrition issues so that this threat to the future of the country can be eliminated.