Nutritional Status of the Women of Reproductive Age with Some of Their Socio- demographic Characteristics of a Slum in Dhaka

This cross-sectional study was conducted at a purposively selected Mohakhali slum known as Sat-tala Basti of Dhaka city with a view to assess the nutritional status of women of reproductive age living in the slum. A total of 510 slum women were interviewed and their anthropometric measurements were taken. A large number of respondents (41.2%) were in the age group of 15 to 24 years. Majority of the respondents (62.7%) and their husband (67%) were illiterate. About 57% of the respondents were housewives and most of the working women were garment workers (33%). The average monthly household income of the respondents was Tk. 3056.9 (±981.8). The mean weight of the respondents was 42.4 (±5.7) Kg. and the mean height of them was 148.7 (±4.2) cm. The mean BMI of the respondents was 19.2 (±2.4) and about one-third (30.8%) of the respondents were malnourished (BMI <18.5). The nutritional status determined by BMI was not found significantly associated with education and occupation of the respondents (p>0.05) but monthly family income showed a positive relationship with BMI of the respondents (p<0.05). This study provided a vivid picture of the nutritional status of the slum mothers and could provide help to the concerned authority in their policy making and planning to alleviate the problem.