Centre for Non-communicable Diseases and Nutrition, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
NCD Epidemiology Research Center, Shiga Univesity of Medical Science, Otsu, Shiga, Japan.
Matern Child Nutr. 2024 Oct;20(4):e13674. doi: 10.1111/mcn.13674. Epub 2024 May 28.
Maternal perceptions, about the nutritional status of their children, may have implications for timely health care seeking and feeding behaviour. Shreds of evidence are limited in this area that assessed maternal perception about the nutritional status of the children in the context of Bangladesh. The objective of this study is to assess the differences in mothers' perceptions about their children's nutritional status who are less than 5 years of age and their associated factors in the context of urban slum areas. A cross-sectional study (Quantitative approach) was conducted in two of the largest urban slums of Dhaka city. A total of 437 mother-children dyads were included in the final analysis. The outcome of interest was the mother's 'varied perceptions' regarding the nutritional status of their children under five. 'Varied perception' refers to the difference between a mother's subjective assessment of her child's nutritional condition and the anthropometrically measured nutritional status. The prevalence of mother's varied perceptions was around 46%, and among them, 37% of mothers underestimated and 9% overestimated their child's nutritional status. 'The child doesn't want to eat' (AOR = 3.69; 95% CI: 2.34-5.85; p < 0.001) and 'Feels light when carried' (AOR = 3.39; 95% CI: 1.69-6.81; p = 0.001) were the significant reasons behind the mother's perception about the nutritional status of their under-five children. About one in two mothers' perceptions about their children varied from the anthropometry-derived status. Various research findings indicate that providing health education on proper feeding practices for children, along with anthropometric measurements, can assist mothers in enhancing their understanding and assessing their child's nutritional status with greater accuracy. Further qualitative research may be instrumental in getting deeper insights into maternal perception to develop context-specific interventions.
母亲对子女营养状况的看法可能会影响及时寻求医疗保健和喂养行为。在孟加拉国，评估母亲对儿童营养状况看法的证据有限。本研究的目的是评估在城市贫民窟地区，5 岁以下儿童母亲对其子女营养状况的看法存在差异及其相关因素。这是一项在达卡市两个最大的城市贫民窟进行的横断面研究（定量方法）。共有 437 对母婴被纳入最终分析。感兴趣的结果是母亲对其 5 岁以下儿童营养状况的“不同看法”。“不同看法”是指母亲对孩子营养状况的主观评估与通过人体测量法测量的营养状况之间的差异。母亲对其子女营养状况存在不同看法的比例约为 46%，其中 37%的母亲低估了其子女的营养状况，9%的母亲高估了其子女的营养状况。“孩子不想吃饭”（OR=3.69；95%CI：2.34-5.85；p<0.001）和“抱起来感觉很轻”（OR=3.39；95%CI：1.69-6.81；p=0.001）是母亲对其 5 岁以下儿童营养状况看法背后的重要原因。大约有一半的母亲对其子女的看法与人体测量学得出的状况不同。各种研究结果表明，为儿童提供适当喂养实践的健康教育，以及人体测量学测量，可以帮助母亲更好地理解并更准确地评估其子女的营养状况。进一步的定性研究可能有助于深入了解母亲的看法，从而制定针对具体情况的干预措施。
