Estimates of average energy requirements in Bangladesh: Adult Male Equivalent values for use in analyzing household consumption and expenditure surveys

Integrated aquatic and terrestrial food production enhances micronutrient and economic productivity for nutrition-sensitive food systems

Integrated aquaculture-agriculture (IAA) is a form of crop diversification where aquatic and terrestrial foods are grown together on a single parcel of land. We compare economic and nutrient productivity per hectare for 12 distinct IAA combinations, identified from a representative survey of 721 farms in southern Bangladesh. Just under half of households integrate agriculture into their aquaculture production. Regression analyses show positive associations between the integration of terrestrial foods into aquatic farming systems and nutrient productivity, but that nutrient productivity is partly disconnected from economic productivity. However, we find that production of specific combinations of aquatic foods and vegetables can simultaneously improve nutrient productivity and economic productivity, thereby promoting nutrition-sensitive agriculture (NSA). The approach demonstrated here can be applied to the design of NSA programmes that are important for realizing nutrition-sensitive food systems.

Diets of Men and Women in Rural Bangladesh Are Equitable but Suboptimal

Background

Recent evidence suggests that diet inequities between men and women may have diminished within rural Bangladeshi households. However, this has not been directly tested with appropriate physiologic adjustments and it is unclear whether changes have occurred across socioeconomic strata. Understanding intrahousehold dietary patterns at different points on the income and food-security distribution in rural Bangladesh-particularly, within ultrapoor and farm households-is important for appropriate design of gender-sensitive and nutrition-sensitive interventions, which often target these groups.

Objective

Using 2012 and 2016 data, we aimed to examine gender differences in diet quantity and quality among ultrapoor and farm households in rural Bangladesh.

Methods

The study used baseline 24-h dietary data from 2 randomized control trials conducted in rural Bangladesh: the Transfer Modality Research Initiative (ultrapoor households) and the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Gender Linkages project (farm households). Ordinary least squares regressions with household-level fixed effects tested for gender differences among constructed diet measures, such as caloric intake, caloric adequacy ratio, dietary diversity score, global diet quality score, and probability of consuming moderate or high levels of healthy food groups.

Results

In both samples, on average, women consumed fewer calories than men in the same households but consumed near equal or more in reference to their caloric needs. Women scored <1% lower than men on diet quality indicators and showed similar probabilities to men of consuming healthy foods. Most men and women in both samples were calorically inadequate (>60%) and recorded poor diet quality scores that indicated high risk of nutrient inadequacy and chronic disease (>95%).

Conclusions

In both ultrapoor and farm households, although men record higher intake quantities and diet quality scores, the apparent male advantage disappear when energy requirements and the magnitudes of difference are considered. Diets of men and women in these rural Bangladeshi households are equitable but suboptimal.

Challenges to Adoption of Improved Legume Varieties: A Gendered Perspective

Limited availability and access to seeds of improved varieties are often blamed for the low adoption of legume-based rotations. In this paper, we use a case study of chickpea and lentil production in Ethiopia and a gendered lens to identify other determinants of farmers’ decisions for the adoption of improved legume varieties. Mixed methods were used to collect sex and age disaggregated data through 360 household surveys, 11 focus group discussions, and 8 key informant interviews. The analysis focused on key adoption parameters, including access to land, labor, improved seed varieties, fertilizers, pesticides, agriculture information, and credit. The main challenges identified include: differential access to timely and adequate seeds of improved varieties, quality fertilizers, and pesticides; availability of credit at an affordable interest rate; and equitable access to information. As compared to men, we found women’s access to these resources to be low and women’s cost production to be relatively high. Farmland remains a main constraint for the youth. Farmers responded to the challenges by recycling seeds and mono-cropping lentils, despite declining soil and crop productivity, and increased occurrence of pests and diseases. In the case of chickpea, we found that cultural norms also discouraged the adoption of the improved variety.

What Were the Drivers of Improving Child Nutritional Status in Bangladesh? An Analysis of National Household Data from 1992 to 2005 Guided by the UNICEF Framework

BACKGROUND

Bangladesh has experienced rapid reductions in child undernutrition and poverty, increases in maternal education, and dietary change over the past 3 decades.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to quantify the determinants of the improvement in child nutritional status among preschool-aged children in Bangladesh from 1992 to 2005.

METHODS

We utilized data from 4 rounds of 2 linked and seasonally balanced survey systems: the Bangladesh Household [Income and] Expenditure Surveys (H[I]ES) and the Child [and Mother] Nutrition Survey (C[M]NS). We analyzed 10,780 children aged 6-59 mo, divided into 2 age groups (6-23 mo and 24-59 mo). We used Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to assess the impact of changing determinants on nutritional status over time, guided by the UNICEF conceptual framework for the causes of child malnutrition.

RESULTS

There were significant improvements in child growth over time for all z-score measures-length/height-for-age (LAZ/HAZ), weight-for-length/height (WLZ/WHZ), and weight-for-age (WAZ)-and in many potential determinants of child growth across domains of the UNICEF framework. Among younger children, decomposition explained 67% of the observed change in LAZ, 130% of WLZ, and 73% of WAZ. Among older children, decomposition explained 41% of the observed change in HAZ and 36% of WAZ. Drivers varied, with improvements in care of children as the only driver in both age groups and for all growth measures. Declines in disease prevalence drove improvements in weight-based measures. For younger children, household diets and household environments were significant drivers of improvement in LAZ and WAZ. For older children, increasing income was the largest driver of HAZ and WAZ.

CONCLUSIONS

Increasing income did not independently drive improvements for younger children but drove improved growth among children aged 2-4 y. This points to the need to focus on nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions to decrease child undernutrition in the vulnerable first 1000 days of life.

Dietary Patterns and Determinants of Changing Diets in Bangladesh from 1985 to 2010

BACKGROUND

The government of Bangladesh has implemented multiple policies since 1971 to provide the population with more diverse and nutritious diets.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the drivers of dietary change over time and the roles agriculture and economic development have played.

METHODS

We used principal component analysis to derive dietary patterns from 7 cross-sectional rounds of the Bangladesh Household [Income and] Expenditure Survey. We then used linear probability models to estimate associations of adherence to dietary patterns with socio-economic characteristics of households, and with agricultural production on the household and regional level. For dietary patterns that increased or decreased over time, Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition was used to assess factors associated with these changes.

RESULTS

Seven dietary patterns were identified: modern, traditional, festival, winter, summer, monotonous, and spices. All diets were present in all survey rounds. In 1985, over 40% of households had diets not associated with any identified pattern, which declined to 12% by 2010. The proportion of the population in households adhering to the modern, winter, summer, and monotonous diets increased over time, whereas the proportion adhering to the traditional diet decreased. Although many factors were associated with adherence to dietary patterns in the pooled sample, changes in observed factors only explained a limited proportion of change over time due to variation in coefficients between periods. Increased real per capita expenditure was the largest driver of elevated adherence to dietary patterns over time, whereas changes in the agricultural system increased adherence to less diverse dietary patterns.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings highlight the need for both diversified agricultural production and a continued reduction in poverty in order to drive dietary improvement. This study lays the groundwork for further analysis of the impact of changing diets on health and nutrition.

Personal name in Igbo Culture: A dataset on randomly selected personal names and their statistical analysis

This data article contains the statistical analysis of Igbo personal names and a sample of randomly selected of such names. This was presented as the following: 1). A simple random sampling of some Igbo personal names and their respective gender associated with each name. 2). The distribution of the vowels, consonants and letters of alphabets of the personal names. 3). The distribution of name length. 4). The distribution of initial and terminal letters of Igbo personal names. The significance of the data was discussed.