Caregiver perceived barriers to the use of micronutrient powder for children aged 6-59 months in Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND

The effectiveness of micronutrient powder (MNP) on the health outcome of children is yet to be proved. Although studies identified the barriers to the use of MNP the underlying factors related to the barriers to the use of MNP are still unexplored. We examined the underlying factors associated with the barriers reported by the caregivers of the children aged 6-59 months in Bangladesh.

METHODS

We analyzed pooled data of 3, 634 caregiver-child dyads extracted from eight cross-sectional surveys. The surveys were conducted as part of an evaluation of the Maternal, Infant and Young Children Nutrition programme (phase 2) in Bangladesh. We performed univariate analysis to find the barriers reported by the caregivers of the children. We identified the underlying factors related to the reported barriers by performing multiple logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

The mostly reported barrier was perceived lack of need for MNP among the caregivers of the children (39.9%), followed by lack of awareness of the product (21.7%) and cost of the product (18.1%). Caregivers of older children (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.69; 95% CI: 1.43, 2.00) and caregivers who maintained good infant and young child feeding practices (aOR: 1.32; 95% CI: 1.12, 1.57) perceived more lack of need for MNP. Caregivers of the female children (aOR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.63, 0.98) were less likely to report that their children disliked MNP compared to the caregivers of the male children.

CONCLUSION

Programmes intended to effectively promote MNP among the caregivers of children aged 6-59 months should carefully consider the factors that could underlie the barriers to the use of MNP.