Current Food and Nutrition Situation in Bangladesh

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    Current food and nutrition situation in Bangladesh(prepared by Harun Yusuf, NFPCSP)

    Food production

    Bangladesh has made a commendable progress in food production in the last one and ahalf decades (1991/92 - 2006/7). he progress !as in rice onl"# because !heat# thesecond largest cereal in Bangladesh# but comprising onl" 6-7$ of total# sho!ed a stead"negati%e gro!th from 199&/99. 'et# the total net foodgrain production (after 10$deduction from gross production for seed# feed and !astage) increased from 17. millionmetric tons (m ) in 1991/92 to 2*.2 m in 2006/07# at an a%erage annual gro!th rateof 9$ !hich surpassed the population gro!th rate of 7.&$ o%er the same period of time.his means# the net per capita foodgrain (rice) a%ailabilit" increased during this time#from *+ g to * 0 g/da"# !hich is# ho!e%er# far abo%e the nutritionall" desirable amount.

    his total food production increase bet!een 1991/92 and 2006/07 is almost entirel"attributable to the increase that occurred bet!een 1996/97 and 2000/01 (gro!th rate26.+$)# because production bet!een 1991/92 and 199*/96 remained almost stagnant andthat bet!een 2001/02 to 2006/07 onl" increased at a rate of 1.+7$ (,igure 1).

    he production of fruits# %egetables and all inds of animal food (meat# egg# mil andfish) also increased during the last 1* "ears at %ar"ing rates# but not enough to meetnutritional re uirements. ulses# once no!n as the poor man s meat as !ell as oilseeds# no!n as the most energ"-dense food# sho!ed a rather steep fall in gro!th.

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    Food consumption

    3ice is the staple food in Bangladesh# comprising o%er *0$ b" !eight and nearl" &0$ b"calorie of the total food. 4n the cereal group# some !heat is also ta en# but it comprisesonl" 6-7$ of total cereal %olume. 5 loo at the food inta e pattern from 1991 to 200*

    !ould sho! that !ith the increase in food production and an impro%ement of socio-economic status of the people during this period# the total per capita food inta e inBangladesh has increased slightl"# b" 6.9$# but# interestingl"# the inta e of cereals sho!sa slo! decreasing trend (total b" 9.*$# rice b" 6. $ and !heat b" *2.+$)(,igure 2). helo!er inta e of cereals is accompanied b" increased inta es of non-cereal food items#

    particularl" meat# egg# potato# fruits and %egetables (,igure +)# indicating positi%etransition to!ards dietar" di%ersification.

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    5s a result of this dietar" di%ersification# at a slo! pace though it has been# the percentdietar" energ" suppl" from cereals to total calorie ( 8 er $) decreased in Bangladeshdiet from 79.6$ in 1991/92 to 72.9$ in 200*# the a%erage annual rate of decrease being

    0. *$. :ith a little acceleration of this rate# it is possible to ma e a pro;ection ofreaching a %alue of 60$ b" 2020. ,5< recommends that the ma=imum contribution ofcereals to total dietar" calorie be 60$> diets ha%ing more than this is recogni?ed as beingmonotonous# less di%ersified and deficient in essential nutrients including calories.4ndeed# data from countries from the 5sia- acific region sho! clear positi%e correlations

    bet!een 8 er $ and child malnutrition rates. he e=ample !ith child stunting issho!n in ,igure *. ,igure also sho!s that 8 er $ is al!a"s higher in rural areasthan urban areas# in commensuration !ith obser%ed higher child malnutrition rates inrural Bangladesh than urban.

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    Nutrition situation

    Macronutrient malnutrition

    acronutrient malnutrition arises due to deficiencies of the macronutrients (calories and protein). his is together no!n as protein-energ" malnutrition ( ). alnutrition ratesin children under * "ears of age (strong indicators of national de%elopment) ha%e sho!n adecreasing trend bet!een 1990 and 200*. ,or e=ample# pre%alence of both under!eight(!eight for age lo!er than -28 of the reference median) and stunting (height for agelo!er than -28 of the reference median) has decreased (,igure 6)# although !asting(lo! !eight for height) did not sho! much trend of impro%ement. he under!eight ratehas decreased from 6&$ in 1990 to &$ in 200* (i.e. at an annual rate of 1.2* percentage

    points). 4f the target of + $ has to be achie%ed ( @ A 1# targetA2 reducing childunder!eight b" half b" 201*)# then the reduction rate shall ha%e to be 1. percentage

    points per "ear. Bangladesh is li el" to achie%e this goal if some more concerted effortsare gi%en at the polic" as !ell as programme le%els. 4n terms of stunting# the picture is alittle brighter# in that the rate of decrease bet!een 1990 and 200* !as 1.+7$ and thetarget rate to reduce it b" half is 1.0$ per "ear.

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    aternal undernutrition rate# measured b" proportion of !omen !ho ha%e Bod" ass4nde= (B 4# !eight in g di%ided b" height in meters s uared) C1&.* g/m 2# has also

    decreased in Bangladesh during the last decade# from *+$ in 1996/97 to +2$ in 200*.:hile this is a good indication of nutritional impro%ement in the mothers in the conte=tof the fact malnutrition in a child s life begins !ith the mother# a more concerningobser%ation is that the pre%alence of o%er!eight (B 4 D2+ g/m 2) among Bangladeshi!omen is also increasing# at an alarming rate. 4t has increased b" 10 percentage points in

    ;ust 10 "ears bet!een 1996/97 and 200* (,igure 7). 5s a result# !hat the ratio ofundernourished to o%ernourished !as *+ 7 in 1996/97 has become +2 17 in 200*#meaning coe=istence of undernutrition and o%ernutrition (the so-called double-burdenof malnutrition) in the same countr"# in the same communit" and also in man" cases inthe same household.

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    Micronutrient malnutrition

    Bangladesh has also achie%ed some success in bringing do!n some of the most commonmicronutrient malnutrition problems# namel" %itamin 5 deficienc" night blindness andiodine deficienc" disorders. Eight blindness !hich !as pre%alent among under 6 "ear oldchildren to the e=tent of .1$ in 1962-6 is no! almost non-e=istent (,igure &). orerecent data from Felen Geller 4nternational studies sho! the pre%alence to be belo! 0.1$in 2006. he main actions behind this success has been a blend of %itamin 5supplementation in the form of Hitamin 5 apsule (H5 ) distribution along !ith the 4( =tended rogramme for 4mmuni?ation) and also the obser%ance of the regular annual%itamin 5 !ee # and the food based strateg" in the form of national scale homegardening.

    Fig. 8: Decrease in prevalence of night blindness in under-6 children

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    5nother success stor" that can be cited at this point of time is the reduction of goiter pre%alence among children and !omen through the Ini%ersal 8alt 4odi?ation (I84) programme initiated in 199 /9*. he national goiter pre%alence (children# men and!omen together) decreased from 7.1$ in 199+ to &.&$ in 200 /0*# !ith an astoundingannual declining rate of +. &$ (,igure 9). Fo!e%er# !e still ha%e a pre%alence of

    ph"siological iodine deficienc" (measured as urinar" iodine e=cretion C100 Jg/K) to thee=tent of around +6$ (data not sho!n).

    4n contrast to night blindness and goiter# not much impro%ement has occurred in anaemiasituation among the Bangladeshi population# despite se%eral inter%entions (iron s"rup#iron-folate tablet) since the last decades. he current situation# sho!n in ,igure 10# is asalarming as e%er. 4nfants# "oung children# adolescent girls and pregnant !omen are the!orst affected population groups. he main reason for this high pre%alence of anaemia inBangladeshi population is the inta e of too little animal products !hich contain the more

    bioa%ailable form of iron (the heme-iron# also called the first class dietar" iron). 8ome plant foods are rich in iron# but plant iron is present in inorganic form# !hich is non-hemeiron and less a%ailable for absorption from the gut. herefore# until and unless the o%eralleconomic condition of the countr" impro%es and the people ha%e the access to animal

    foods# particularl" meat and egg# achie%ement of a sustainable anaemia-free nation !ouldremain a far cr".

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    Polic implications

    he Eational ,ood olic" (2006) is a comprehensi%e# pro-poor e uitable @o%ernment polic" document that has a long-term %ision of building a health" nation b" ensuring foodsecurit" for all at all times. 4t has three ob;ecti%es# namel" to ensure ade uate and stable

    suppl" of safe and nutritious food> to enhance purchasing po!er of the people forincreased food accessibilit"> and to ensure ade uate nutrition for all# especiall" childrenand !omen. 5ttaining the abo%e ob;ecti%es and effecti%e implementation of the Eational,ood olic" !ill go a long !a" in sol%ing the food and nutrition problems of our countr".

    Fig. !":

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