Malnutrition problems in adolescents

Nazma Akhtar is 15 years old and her height is less than four feet. Compared to her age and height, her weight is too much, more than 60 kilograms. Najma’s father is her only family member as she lost her mother many years ago. Her father Khair Uddin’s worries about his daughter knows no bounds. The girl is getting older, but she is not getting taller. On the other hand, her weight is increasing day by day. Khair Uddin said, according to her age, my daughter is not getting tall, but she is getting fatter. Everyone mocks her as ‘Batu’ (stunted). I cannot sleep at night thinking about my daughter.

According to various national surveys and statistics, more than one-fifth of the total population in the country are adolescents, who’s nutritional and health conditions are not satisfactory. Of these, 25 percent of adolescents are suffering from malnutrition and anemia. Again, about one-third of teenage girls and one-fifth of teenage boys are stunted. Adolescents are in alarming conditions in urban and rural areas in terms of the nutrition.

According to public health and nutrition experts, the implementation of health and nutrition policies and effective programs is imperative to save the country’s adolescents from this vicious cycle of malnutrition.

Nutrition is an important index of public health. But malnutrition is identified as a serious national problem in Bangladesh. The current nutrition rate in the country is 17.6 percent. According to the United Nations, the number of people suffering from malnutrition in Bangladesh has increased by almost 1 million in the last decade. In 2004, this number was about 23 million. In 2018, this number increased to 24 million. Among them, one in six people is suffering from malnutrition.

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) 2015 statistics, more than one-fifth of the total population in the country are teenagers, i.e. 36 million of the total population, are aged 10-19 years. The World Health Organization defines the age range of 10-19 years as adolescence. During this time, both boys and girls undergo various physical and mental changes. So, it is very important to ensure proper health and nutrition for them.

According to recent nutrition research, 15 to 19-year-old girls in urban and rural areas are in alarming situations in terms of nutrition. According to the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 Revision of the Adolescent Nutrition Index, the nutritional and health status of adolescents aged 15-19 years is not satisfactory. Adolescent nutrition varies widely between rural and urban areas. Especially among urban and rural adolescents aged 15-19, stunting is 34.5 percent and 39.9 percent, respectively, and anemia rates are close to 40 percent in rural areas and about 36 percent in urban areas, respectively.

According to another statistic, due to the high rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, these teenage girls are at risk of pregnancy, violence, and malnutrition. One in three of them are sick and 11 percent are very thin.

Syeda Sharmin Akhter, chief nutritionist of Diet Counseling Center, said about the risk of malnutrition in adolescents, “There are two types of malnutrition. One is malnutrition due to lack of various nutrients; the other is malnutrition due to excess of certain nutrients. We see both types of malnutrition in adolescents. Both of these malnutrition are bad for teenagers. They are not responsible for whatever kind of malnutrition they have. It is the responsibility of everyone older in the family to ensure the health of the teenagers.

A study by BDHS showed that 25 percent of the country’s adolescents are suffering from malnutrition and anemia. The minimum height for girls should be 145 cm, but only 13 percent of them have this height. Again, in terms of height, teenage boys should be 150-155 cm. They too are lagging behind. It was found that 25 percent of the girls’ weight is below 18 percent. According to the body mass index (BMD), the weight should be 18 percent.

Nutrition has a profound impact on the current and future health of adolescents. Malnutrition harms their thinking, behavior, and health. Lenin Chowdhury, a preventive medicine specialist at Health and Hope Hospital, said, “Malnutrition is one of the biggest problems for children. Childhood and adolescence are periods of growth. An immature body is gradually transformed into a mature human body with the help of nutrition. During this time every part of his body, be it flesh, muscle, bone, or any other part, remains immature. The child grows continuously and through this his physical and mental development gets completed.

He said that the first thing that needs to be provided is nutrition. Because nutrition provides three types of energy for the body. The first is that nutrition fills the depletion that human body constantly faces within. The second is that it provides the material or energy for the growth of the body. And thirdly, it helps in building immunity to protect the body from all hostile environments and diseases.

Bilkis Begum Chowdhury, Associate Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics Department of Kumudini Women’s Medical Hospital said, “Due to malnutrition, menstruation starts late in a malnourished girl and remains irregular. These girls face many problems during pregnancy due to anemia. As a result, the tendency to water in the body affected by convulsion-like diseases and increase in blood pressure can also be observed in them.”

Moreover, malnutrition increases the other risks. Because of this, they usually suffer from various problems like delayed delivery, obstructed delivery, and even post-partum complications during childbirth. These include fistula and various infectious diseases.

Taslim Uddin Khan, the country’s renowned public health expert and Managing Director and CEO of SMC, said that we have already started to come out of this situation. Earlier in the country 65 teenage girls were married in their teenage years, now 50 percent of teenage girls are getting married at that stage. Of course, a girl should not get married before 18 years. Just as the adolescent body is lacking in iodine and iron, vitamin D and zinc are also lacking at that stage. These deficiencies must be filled. She should eat a balanced diet and be given multiple micro-nutrient supplements, so that her nutritional deficiency can be met. (BSS)