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Nutritional Status of Women of India and Bangladesh: A Comparative Study
Authors: S. Banerjee, S. Biswas, S. Roy, M. Pal, M. G. Hossain, and P. Bharati
Source: Human Biology Review, Volume 9, Issue 4
Topic(s): Education
Nutrition
Rural-urban differentials
Women's health
Country: Asia
  Bangladesh
  India
Published: SEP 2020
Abstract: The study tries to assess and compare the nutritional status of ever-married women aged 15-49 years in India and Bangladesh. It also tries to find out the effect of socio-economic and demographic factors on women’s nutritional status. It is a comparative as well as ex-post-facto research. The present study is based on the unit level data extracted fromthe National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4, 2015-16) of India and Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS-2014). Data of 494264 ever-married women age 15-19 years are included in this study. Pearson Chi-square test, logistic regression and z-proportional tests have been done to seethe differences in the nutritional status of Bangladeshi and Indian women with respect to different socio-economic and demographic variables. The level of significance is taken as 0.05 or higher (i.e., 0.01). The present study reveals that higher number of Bangladeshi women (23.4 percent) are underweight than that of Indian women (18.8 percent), while the higher number (percentages) of Indian women are overweight and obese than women of Bangladesh; however, the differences are not significant at 5 percent level in the latter case. Women with higher educational levels have higher percentages of overweight and obesity in both countries than women with lower educational levels. The present study also reveals that women residing in a rural area are much more affected by undernutrition compared to urban women in both countries. From the results of regression analysis, it is clear that in most cases socio-economic and demographic factors have a significant impact on women’s nutritional status. The study concludes that socio-economic and demographic variables have a significant impact on the nutritional status of women. Further research on the nutritional status of women is needed to be carried out in both countries.
Web: https://www.humanbiologyjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Volume9-Number4-Article7.pdf