Nutritional situation of Dhaka

The paper presents the nutritional situation of Dhaka. Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh with an area of 414 square Km. The population size of Dhaka city is about 7 millions of which nearly 3 millions live in the slums. Socio-economic and socio-cultural situation has been discussed. In the pre-school children, protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) appeared to be a serious problems. A high rate of advanced vitamin A deficiency along with severe PEM has been demonstrated. A recent survey showed that slum children below five years of age had higher prevalence of acute (11%) and chronic (50%) malnutrition. This paper also discussed the nutritional status of school children and pregnant women. A national nutrition survey revealed that average energy intake by the industrial laborers was only 74% of the daily requirement. To date no data is available on the nutritional situation of the adolescent and elderly people. Poverty, lack of knowledge, illnesses, lack of sufficient services and socio-cultural barriers are the major causes of nutritional problem. There are several Government and Non-Government organizations in Dhaka city working for improving community health and nutritional status through a number of interventions; such as health and nutrition education, vitamin A capsule distribution, immunization, growth monitoring and feeding through rehabilitation centers. A positive impact of vitamin A oral dosing has been demonstrated and improved nutritional status by nutrition education and feeding through the centers have been reported. Community participation and sustainability of the program have also been discussed.