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Public Health Research
p-ISSN: 2167-7263 e-ISSN: 2167-7247
2015; 5(6): 184-191
doi:10.5923/j.phr.20150506.03


Poor Birth Size a Badge of Low Birth Weight Accompanying Less Antenatal Care in Bangladesh with Substantial Divisional Variation: Evidence from BDHS - 2011

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S. M. Raysul Haque , Shabareen Tisha, Nafisa Huq
School of Public Health, Independent University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Correspondence to: S. M. Raysul Haque , School of Public Health, Independent University Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
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Copyright © 2015 Scientific & Academic Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract
In spite of having a pretty good progress in maternal and child health, low birth weight is still a serious public health issue for Bangladesh. The prime concern of this study was to crosscheck the eventual influence of antenatal care on poor birth size, a substitution of low birth weight and to explore the divisional variation along with its individual role on poor birth size. A nationally representative data, Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2011 was used for this purpose. Sample size for this study was 7324 children from the different parts of the country born within last five years preceding the survey and all of them were the last child. Logistic regression analysis was applied to examine the influence of ANC on poor birth size as well as other relevant variables such as mother’s level of education, house hold income, division, age of mother at birth, birth order, sex of child, place of residence, media exposure etc. A total of 17.5% children had poor birth size (reported as “very small” or “smaller than average” by mothers) at the time of birth. The result of the analysis shows that ANC is negatively and significantly associated with poor birth size after controlling for all other potential factors. Four or more times ANC visited mothers, compared to no ANC visited mothers, have 26% lower risks of having poor birth size babies (p=0.002). Highest frequency (23%) of poor birth size was found at South-eastern part of Bangladesh which is Chittagong division and lowest frequency (10.1%) was observed in both Barisal and Khulna division. In comparison to Dhaka division, mothers living at Sylhet or Chittagong division have 42% or 35% higher risk of having poor birth size babies respectively(p=0.003 or p=0.001). As per current study it is well documented that provision of adequate antenatal care and proper utilization of it can effectively reduce poor birth size, eventually low birth weight in Bangladesh and divisional variation is also prominent in Bangladesh.