STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF FOOD CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOUR IN SELECTED AREAS OF BANGLADESH: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY
Date
2009-12
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
HAJEE MOHAMMAD DANESH SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY, DINAJPUR.
Abstract
The present study applied different statistical tools to identify the socio-economic and
demographic factors affecting child malnutrition, food consumption and nutrients intake
pattern of the households and to suggest measures to improve the present dietary intake
pattern towards food security of the rural households in Bangladesh. The study was carried
out on all households randomly selected from two villages from Dinajpur as a rice surplus
district and all the households of two villages from Bagerhat as a rice deficit district using a
three-stage random sampling scheme. Information about socio-demographic and economic
characteristics of the households was collected by using a structured questionnaire. Food
consumption data were collected through 24 hours recall and partly by weighing method.
Height, weight and mid arm circumference of all the children under 6 years of age from the
study population were measured using standardized instruments.
Description
Bangladesh has been facing the chronic food deficit for many years. In the past,
Bangladesh has suffered poverty, frequent natural disasters, and rapid population growth
and there has been a gradual decline in per capita nutrient intake. Traditional dietary
practices have undergone significant changes since 1937, which has contributed to the
decline of nutrient uptake. In 1937, rice was the chief component of the diet at the village
level, with protein supplied by lentils, peas, Bengal gram, green gram, black gram,
cowpea and kheshari etc. But the daily nutrient intake of poor people was better than that
of today. Massive starvation during the famine in 1943 caused a change in dietary
practices. People began to eat green leaves, roots, tubers, and many unfamiliar foods
because of the scarcity of cereals and the sharp increase in the price of rice. In 1971, in
the refugee camp in India, both adults and children ate unfamiliar foods and gradually
accustomed themselves to using wheat as their staple diet. In 1974 and 1977, crop failure
and flood in Bangladesh caused more changes in food habits and dietary food
consumption pattern (Roy and Haider, 1988). This was associated with natural calamities
that adversely affected the production of rice and other crops in the country almost every
year and the newly born country experienced an acute food shortage.
Keywords
Socio economic status of the peoples of Bangladesh and other 13 countries, Hypothesis, Food and nutrient intake pattern in Bangladesh and other countries