ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN NUTRITIONAL STATUS, HOUSEHOLD FACTORS AND SPECIFIC DIARRHEAL PATHOGENS AMONG CHILDREN IN MIRZAPUR, BANGLADESH | 20th International Congress of Nutrition , Granada, Spain, September 15–20, 2013.
K. Long1, Z. Horder1, A. Faruque2, T. Ahmed2, S. Ahmed1, 1School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia 2Centre for Nutrition and Food Security, ICCDR,B Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Background and objectives: Childhood malnutrition determinants are multi-factorial and so causal pathways linking them require further clarification. We ascertained what household sanitation and hygiene factors and diarrheal pathogens determined nutritional status of children in rural Bangladesh.
Methods: Children with diarrhea and matched control children Results: The prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting among children was 18%, 22% and 14%, respectively. Greater caregivers education, feces disposal, and childs age, were associated with reduced stunting and underweight while household animals increased the risk of both. Greater caregivers education and water treatment were associated with reduced wasting. Cryptosporidium parvum and Shigella flexneri infections were significantly associated with increased stunting and wasting, respectively.
Conclusions: These results suggest that different sets of risk factors are associated with indices of short term acute and longer term chronic malnutrition. These differences are reflected in the importance of acute, severe bacterial and chronic parasite infections as proximal risk factors for these outcomes.
