TITLE:
Health and Nutritional Status of Young Foster Children Attending a Diarrhea Treatment Hospital in Bangladesh
AUTHORS:
Durdana Akhter, Sumon Kumar Das, Mohammod Jobayer Chisti, Gazi Imran, Fahmida Dil Farzana, Shahnawaz Ahmed, Farzana Ferdous, Mohammad Abdul Malek, Abu Syed Golam Faruque
KEYWORDS:
Bangladesh; Diarrhea; Foster Children; Malnutrition
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.4 No.8,
July
17,
2013
ABSTRACT: There is scarcity of evidence-based information about socio-demographic as well as ailment factors associated with foster children in Bangladesh. Thus the aim of the present study was to determine the socio-economic, health and nutritional status of young foster children in urban Dhaka. A total of 208 (1%; n = 208/28,948) under-5 foster children were enrolled in the Diarrheal Disease Surveillance System of icddr,b between 1993-2012. Randomly selected under-5 children (n = 624) with a ratio of 1:3 were extracted and constituted as comparison group. Forty-three percent (n = 90) foster children were male. Lack of formal schooling of mother was higher among foster children compared to non-foster children (52% vs. 35%; p