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Double burden of malnutrition in children aged 24 to 59 months by socioeconomic status in five South Asian countries: evidence from demographic and health surveys.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:We aimed to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in the burden of underweight and overweight among children in South Asia. We also examined other factors that were associated with these outcomes independently of household's socioeconomic status. DESIGN:Nationally-representative surveys. SETTINGS:Demographic and Health Surveys from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal, which were conducted between 2009 and 2016. PARTICIPANTS:Children aged 24 to 59 months with valid measurement for height and weight (n=146?996). PRIMARY EXPOSURE AND OUTCOME MEASURES:Primary exposures were household's wealth index and level of education. Underweight and overweight were defined according to the WHO and International Obesity Task Force definitions, respectively. RESULTS:Underweight prevalence was 37% in Bangladesh, 38% in India, 19% in Maldives, 29% in Nepal and 28% in Pakistan. Bangladesh, India and Nepal had similar overweight prevalence (between 2% and 4%) whereas Pakistan (7%) and Maldives (9%) had higher prevalence. Households with higher wealth index or education had lower odds of having underweight children. Adjusted ORs of underweight for richest versus poorest households were 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.5), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.5 to 0.6), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.2 to 1.4), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) and 0.7 (95% CI: 0.5 to 1.1) for Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan, respectively. Compared with poorest households, richest households were more likely to have overweight children in all countries except Pakistan, but such associations were not significant after adjustment for other factors. There were higher odds of having overweight children in households with higher education in Bangladesh (OR 2.1 (95% CI: 1.3 to 3.5)), India (OR 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2 to 1.3)) and Pakistan (OR 1.8 (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.9)) when compared with households with no education. Maternal nutritional status was consistently associated with children's nutritional outcomes after adjustments for socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS:Our study provides evidence for socioeconomic inequalities for childhood underweight and overweight in South Asian countries, although the directions of associations for underweight and overweight might be different.

SUBMITTER: Hossain FB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7076246 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Double burden of malnutrition in children aged 24 to 59 months by socioeconomic status in five South Asian countries: evidence from demographic and health surveys.

Hossain Fariha Binte FB Shawon Md Shajedur Rahman MSR Al-Abid Md Shehab Uddin MSU Mahmood Sultan S Adhikary Gourab G Bulbul Md M Islam MMI

BMJ open 20200316 3

<h4>Objectives</h4>We aimed to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in the burden of underweight and overweight among children in South Asia. We also examined other factors that were associated with these outcomes independently of household's socioeconomic status.<h4>Design</h4>Nationally-representative surveys.<h4>Settings</h4>Demographic and Health Surveys from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal, which were conducted between 2009 and 2016.<h4>Participants</h4>Children aged 2 ...[more]

PMID: 32184304

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Project description:IntroductionExtant studies universally document a positive gradient between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. A notable exception is the apparent concentration of HIV/AIDS among wealthier individuals. This paper uses data from the Demographic Health Surveys and AIDS Indicator Surveys to examine socioeconomic inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence in 24 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, the region that accounts for two-thirds of the global HIV/AIDS burden.MethodsThe relative and generalized concentration indices (RC and GC) were used to quantify wealth-based socioeconomic inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence for the total adult population (aged 15-49), for men and women, and in urban and rural areas in each country. Further, we decomposed the RC and GC indices to identify the determinants of socioeconomic inequalities in HIV/AIDS prevalence in each country.ResultsOur findings demonstrated that HIV/AIDS was concentrated among higher SES individuals in the majority of SSA countries. Swaziland and Senegal were the only countries in the region where HIV/AIDS was concentrated among individuals living in poorer households. Stratified analyses by gender showed HIV/AIDS was generally concentrated among wealthier men and women. In some countries, including Kenya, Lesotho Uganda, and Zambia, HIV/AIDS was concentrated among the poor in urban areas but among wealthier adults in rural areas. Decomposition analyses indicated that, besides wealth itself (median = 49%, interquartile range [IQR] = 90%), urban residence (median = 54%, IQR = 81%) was the most important factor contributing to the concentration of HIV/AIDS among wealthier participants in SSA countries.ConclusionsFurther work is needed to understand the mechanisms explaining the concentration of HIV/AIDS among wealthier individuals and urban residents in SSA. Higher prevalence of HIV/AIDS could be indicative of better care and survival among wealthier individuals and urban adults, or reflect greater risk behaviour and incidence. Moreover, differential findings across countries suggest that effective intervention efforts for reducing the burden of HIV/AIDS in the SSA should be country specific.

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Dataset Information

Double burden of malnutrition in children aged 24 to 59 months by socioeconomic status in five South Asian countries: evidence from demographic and health surveys.

Publications

Double burden of malnutrition in children aged 24 to 59 months by socioeconomic status in five South Asian countries: evidence from demographic and health surveys.

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