Bangladeshis are raising a more robust generation of youngsters thanks to declining poverty and improved awareness about nutrition.
Rina Akhter and Salma Banu live in Manda, a village in Munshiganj district near Dhaka. Both are still in their teens: Rina is 19 and Salma, a year younger. Both have already become mothers, as is common in Bangladesh villages.
Rina Akhter and Salma Banu are residents of Manda, a village in Munshiganj district near Dhaka. The two young mothers say they are determined to ensure their children receive good nutrition. [M.Jahan/Khabar]
Rahela Khatun, a 38-year-old mother of five and a day labourer, feeds milk and rice to her 8-month-old daughter Lamia. Experts say overdependence on rice contributes to poor nutrition. [M.Jahan/Khabar]
“We don’t think much about our health. We are really concerned about the well being of our kids,” Rina told Khabar South Asia.
Three-year-old cousins Zahid and Nahid Hasan, playing nearby, look healthy and robust. Both children were breastfed until they reached two, while also following nutrition guidelines recommended by village healthcare volunteers.
Nutrition levels in Bangladesh have been on the rise in recent years, experts say, with the trend fueled by declining poverty, better awareness, and public education campaigns by the government as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“There is no doubt that purchasing power of common people has gone up as well as the awareness level about better health, [thus] making a difference,” said AKM Nurunnabi, professor of Population Science Department at Dhaka University.
But there is no room for complacency, he warned, as pockets of disparity still exist – especially in northeastern Sylhet, where stunted children account for 49 to 51% of the overall population, compared to a national average of 41%.
“Malnourished children often suffer from anemia and they tend to be underweight besides short in height,” Ekhlasur Rahman, director of Public Health and Nutrition, told Khabar. “They also suffer from night blindness and are deficient in intelligence level.”
Some experts say poverty alone cannot be blamed for malnutrition. According to Golam Mowla, Food and Nutrition Science professor at Dhaka University, many children from affluent families also suffer due to their parents’ lack of dietary knowledge.
Many wealthy mothers, Mowla said, prefer providing powdered milk to their children rather than breastfeeding them.
According to Khurshid Jahan, who teaches at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science at Dhaka University, the biggest obstacle to progress is Bangladeshis‘ overdependence on rice, a major staple. Rice is basically a carbohydrate with minimum nutritious value, she said.
The problem is more acute in rural areas. According to the 2011 Bangladesh Health Services Survey (BHSS), a Bangladeshi in a rural village eats about 441.6 grams of rice in a day, compared to 344.2 grams taken in by an urban resident.
“The essence of nutrition is the knowledge about nutritious food, easy availability and making it affordable to common people,” Jahan said.
Taskin Cowdhury, project director of Plan Bangladesh, an NGO, said to fight malnutrition, policymakers must focus attention on women.
“A malnourished mother produces a malnourished child,” she said. “If that child is a girl, she is most likely to produce another malnourished child when she becomes a mother.
“It is a vicious cycle. We must endeavour to dismantle it in order to get ahead.”
That message is not lost on Rahela Khatun, a 38-year-old mother of five. She is a day labourer and works in a brick kiln in the low-income Dhaka neighbourhood of Keranigang.
On a recent day, she was seen feeding milk and rice to Lamia, her 8-month-old and youngest daughter. Her own lunch consisted of rice and lentils.
“I know milk is good for her health and that’s why I’m feeding her despite the fact that she’s crying,” Rahela said.
Rina Akhter and Salma Banu live in Manda, a village in Munshiganj district near Dhaka. Both are still in their teens: Rina is 19 and Salma, a year younger. Both have already become mothers, as is common in Bangladesh villages.
And both are determined to make sure their children get better nutrition than they themselves had when they were growing up.
“We don’t think much about our health. We are really concerned about the well being of our kids,” Rina told Khabar South Asia.
Three-year-old cousins Zahid and Nahid Hasan, playing nearby, look healthy and robust. Both children were breastfed until they reached two, while also following nutrition guidelines recommended by village healthcare volunteers.
Nutrition levels in Bangladesh have been on the rise in recent years, experts say, with the trend fueled by declining poverty, better awareness, and public education campaigns by the government as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
“There is no doubt that purchasing power of common people has gone up as well as the awareness level about better health, [thus] making a difference,” said AKM Nurunnabi, professor of Population Science Department at Dhaka University.
But there is no room for complacency, he warned, as pockets of disparity still exist – especially in northeastern Sylhet, where stunted children account for 49 to 51% of the overall population, compared to a national average of 41%.
“Malnourished children often suffer from anemia and they tend to be underweight besides short in height,” Ekhlasur Rahman, director of Public Health and Nutrition, told Khabar. “They also suffer from night blindness and are deficient in intelligence level.”
Some experts say poverty alone cannot be blamed for malnutrition. According to Golam Mowla, Food and Nutrition Science professor at Dhaka University, many children from affluent families also suffer due to their parents’ lack of dietary knowledge.
Many wealthy mothers, Mowla said, prefer providing powdered milk to their children rather than breastfeeding them.
According to Khurshid Jahan, who teaches at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science at Dhaka University, the biggest obstacle to progress is Bangladeshis‘ overdependence on rice, a major staple. Rice is basically a carbohydrate with minimum nutritious value, she said.
The problem is more acute in rural areas. According to the 2011 Bangladesh Health Services Survey (BHSS), a Bangladeshi in a rural village eats about 441.6 grams of rice in a day, compared to 344.2 grams taken in by an urban resident.
“The essence of nutrition is the knowledge about nutritious food, easy availability and making it affordable to common people,” Jahan said.
Taskin Cowdhury, project director of Plan Bangladesh, an NGO, said to fight malnutrition, policymakers must focus attention on women.
“A malnourished mother produces a malnourished child,” she said. “If that child is a girl, she is most likely to produce another malnourished child when she becomes a mother.
“It is a vicious cycle. We must endeavour to dismantle it in order to get ahead.”
That message is not lost on Rahela Khatun, a 38-year-old mother of five. She is a day labourer and works in a brick kiln in the low-income Dhaka neighbourhood of Keranigang.
On a recent day, she was seen feeding milk and rice to Lamia, her 8-month-old and youngest daughter. Her own lunch consisted of rice and lentils.
“I know milk is good for her health and that’s why I’m feeding her despite the fact that she’s crying,” Rahela said.
