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Child mouthing of soil and presence of animals in child sleeping spaces are associated with growth faltering among young children in Dhaka, Bangladesh (CHoBI7 Program)
Author(s) -
Monira Shirajum,
Bhuyian Md. Sazzadul Islam,
Parvin Tahmina,
Uddin Ismat Minhaj,
Zohura Fatema,
Hasan M. Tasdik,
Biswas Shwapon K.,
Hasan Khaled,
Masud Jahed,
Rashid Mahamudur,
Rahman Zillur,
Papri Nowshin,
Rafique Raisa,
Islam Aminul,
Barman Indrajeet,
Jubyda Fatema Tuz,
Johura FatemaTuz,
Sultana Marzia,
Sanin Kazi Istiaque,
Sack David A.,
Perin Jamie,
Alam Munirul,
George Christine
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
tropical medicine and international health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.056
H-Index - 114
eISSN - 1365-3156
pISSN - 1360-2276
DOI - 10.1111/tmi.13417
Subject(s) - medicine , pediatrics , confidence interval , hygiene , prospective cohort study , psychological intervention , demography , environmental health , surgery , pathology , psychiatry , sociology
Objective The objective of the study was to investigate potential risk factors for growth faltering among children under 5 years of age. Method We conducted a prospective cohort study of 553 children under 5 years from diarrhoea patient households in urban Dhaka, Bangladesh. Height and weight measurements were obtained at baseline and at a 12‐month follow‐up. Caregivers of young children were administered a monthly questionnaire on household sociodemographic characteristics and hygiene practices. Results Children with caregiver reports of mouthing soil at the majority of household visits had a significant reduction in their height‐for‐age z ‐scores (HAZ) from baseline to the 12‐month follow‐up (ΔHAZ: −0.28 (95% confidence interval (CI): −0.51, −0.05)). A significant reduction in HAZ was also observed for children in households with animals in their sleeping space (ΔHAZ: −0.37 (95% CI: −0.71, −0.04)). Conclusion These findings provide further evidence to support the hypothesis that child mouthing of soil and the presence of animals in the child’s sleeping space are potential risk factors for growth faltering among young children. Interventions are urgently needed to provide clean play and sleeping spaces for young children to reduce exposure to faecal pathogens through child mouthing.