Prevalence & mother-child psycho-social factors associated with stunting under five years children at Dholpur and Korail slum areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Stunting, an indicator of regional linear growth, has become a key biomarker of childhood undernutrition due to its continuing elevated incidence worldwide and significance for overall development and well-being. Most analyses have largely ignored psychological problems influencing care and nurturing in the home in favor of social and biological aspects. This study to document the prevalence of stunting as well as mothers-child psycho-social contributing variables Methods: A quantitative approach and community-based cross-sectional study were made among 390 children between the age of six months and under five years old in the dholpur and korail slum areas in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Anthropometric measurements of the child were done using standard methods [version 3.2.2 (Z-score)]. STATA SE 17 version was used to analyze the data. A chi-square test was performed to compare the differences and significance between the outcome and independent variables. For the chi test, the significant value was calculated as p-value <0.05. This study performed univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis to evaluate the association between independent factors (mothers-child psycho-social factors) and the outcome variable (stunting). Findings: The overall prevalence of stunting under five years of children was 36.15%. This study had a statistically significant association between socio-demographic factors (husband's educational level, husband's occupational level, child sex, and child age) and stunting. It was revealed that those who felt loneliness during pregnancy had 1.3 higher odds of stunting than those who never thought it. This study also explored those who had anxiety during pregnancy had 1.6 higher odds of stunting than those with no anxiety. The study also reported that in the case of child interaction problems with a neighbor child, who had interaction problems with another child had 2.0 times higher odds of stunting than those with no interaction problems with another child. Conclusion: Though there was no statistically significant association between the mother -child psycho-social problems and stunting, the study's prevalence was high. It would be helpful to undertake more studies to evaluate mother -child psycho-social factors in two urban slums and compare them to other slums in the country.