Nutrional Status of The Dhaka University Body
Nutrional Status of The Dhaka University Body
Nutrional Status of The Dhaka University Body
Chapter # 1
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1.1 Introduction
Bangladesh with its 111.4 million people on a land of 14757 sq.km is one of the least
developmental countries of the world .The country faces formidable long** term
problems of development. The health status of whole Bangladesh is poor. There are
many reasons that lead to this condition such as insanitary condition including non-
availability of problem water, inappropriate treatment facilities, and inadequate supply
of drugs. Due to assaults of malnutrition and diseases mortality rate is high in the
developing countries like our Bangladesh.
The overall nutritional status of the population in Bangladesh is considered one of the
worst in the world. Despite rapid growth in income and food production in recent years,
the nutritional status has remained low. More than 50% of all children between 6 and
71 months in Bangladesh are underweight or low weight'-for-age while nearly 50% of
them are stunted or low height-for-age (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2002). Besides,
the nutritional status of adolescent girls and women remains a key factor in the
persistence of malnutrition in Bangladesh. Chronic energy deficiency, nutritional
anemia and low birth weight are common amongst women and adolescent mothers in
Bangladesh.
Rates of malnutrition in Bangladesh are among the highest in the world. More than 54%
of preschool-age children, equivalent to more than 9.5 million children, are stunted,
56% are underweight and more than 17% are wasted. Although all administrative
divisions were affected by child malnutrition there were important differences in the
prevalence of the three anthropometric indicators. The prevalence of underweight
ranged from 49.8% in Khulna to 64.0% in Sylhet which also showed the highest
prevalence of stunting (61.4%) and wasting (20.9%). Despite the high levels, rates of
stunting have declined steadily over the past 10 years.
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were poor based on their calorie consumption, 'the prevalence of poverty and resulting
low calorie consumption is higher in rural than in urban areas.
Many studies have recognized the existing widespread rural poverty and the tendency
of progressive increase in the absolute number of the poor people. The socioeconomic
environment characterizing the poor includes lack of access to land, wide spread
prevalence of illiteracy and unemployment and low income. Given the socioeconomic
condition of the poor, the mechanism for poverty alleviation would require major
efforts on credit based development activities for landless poor.
There are a number of factors that can affect the academic achievement of the students.
One of those factors is nutrition. In today's society, many students are still not getting an
adequate diet or proper nutrition. Many students today are severely malnourished,
whether they are underfed or significantly overweight. An adequate diet or lack thereof,
can greatly, on tests, and their overall academic success.
Nutrition has always been a topic of conversation within today's world, especially with
so many people being overweight while others are undernourished. Not only does an
adequate diet affect life and overall health, but it can also affect other important feats
throughout life. A balanced and healthy diet can greatly affect attendance in behaviors,
grades, attention span, and even standardized test scores. Everything from eating foods
with the correct amounts of certain nutrients, to getting breakfast in the morning can
affect the health of today's students, therefore affecting their overall outcomes in
studies.
Making good food choices is among the most pleasurable and effective ways of
improving health. Healthful diets help students develop and perform well. A healthy diet
allows adults to work productively and feel their best. Good food choices also can help
to prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease, certain, cancers, diabetes, stroke and
osteoporosis that ore leading causes of deotfr. A proper diet can also reduce major risk
factors for chronic diseases, such as obesity, high blood pressure and high blood
cholesterol.
People require energy and certain essential nutrients. These nutrients are essential
because the body cannot make these nutrients on its own and must obtain them from
food. Essential nutrients include vitamins, minerals, certain amino acids and certain
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Nutrition Status of the DU resident Students ID-10011124
fatty acids. Foods also contain fiber and other components that are important for health.
Each of these food components has a specific function in the body and they are all
required for .overall health. For example, people need calcium for strong bones, for
example, but many, other nutrients also take part in building and maintaining bones.
Improving nutrition can have a significant impact on survival as well as physical and
cognitive development and productivity. Good nutrition, comprising adequate quality
and quantity of food intake and reduction of illness is also a basic human right and is an
essential input for economic development.
Significant progress has been made in cereal production in Bangladesh over the past
decades. However, the rapid population growth and resulting high and growing food
requirements pose a difficult challenge given the limited availability of cultivable land in
Bangladesh. Re-occurring disasters further complicate the stability of food production.
Recently the government of Bangladesh and interested organization has started to
encourage non-cereal food production and consumption along with food self-
sufficiency. Greater attention is being given to supportive policies for agriculture input,
research on non-cereal crops, and commercial and homestead promotion of poultry and
fruits/vegetables are receiving greater attention. There is a clear need to diversify food
sources both in terms of land/environmental sustainability, development of the rural
economy and increased consumption to achieve improvements in the nutritional status
of the people of Bangladesh.
1.2 Background
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Studies on nutritional status are very important in the students of Dhaka University
because of low to moderate prevalence of possible deficiencies. In Bangladesh, natural
calamities, such as devastating floods, prolonged droughts, destructive cyclones, often
aggravate the nutritional deficiencies. These disasters cause high unemployment,
elevated food prices,-reduced food stock and a high scarcity of food, all of which have a
marked impact on poor rural inhabitants and thus on students of university
This study was therefore designed to evaluate the energy intake and body composition
based on anthropometric variables of students of university.
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1.3 Justification
Few studies have been done to investigate the nutritional status and the dietary intake
among selected University students. No information on the nutritional status of the hall
staying students of Dhaka University was obtained so far.
There are several reasons why the dietary intake and nutritional status of the hall
staying students of University of Dhaka are of concern to the nutritionists. This is an age
group characterized by frequent meal skipping, snacks a preference for fast foods etc. it
is also a time when the precursors of nutritionally related diseases might be established.
The students of halls of University of Dhaka represent different segments of the society.
Their nutritional status and performance will largely determine the quality and caliber
of the next generation.
So, the present study was intended to understand the nutritional status of the hall
staying students of University of Dhaka on the basis of collected information on socio-
economic status, anthropometric measurement, clinical observations and dietary
intake.
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The following research questions have been formulated to meet the research objectives:
i) What is the level of access to health care services in the area of Dhaka University?
ii) What are the problems and complications that Hall-Staying student of Dhaka
University face in case of nutritional health and diseases and the factors
associated with it?
iii) Why do poor health status and nutritional diseases so frequent taking place in this
area?
iv) To what extent do the Hall-Staying students use traditional knowledge in their
nutritional health practices?
General objective:
To obtain and assess the nutritional status as well as dietary intake of the hall students
of University of Dhaka and to compare it’s findings with their socio-economic status.
Specific objectives:
To identify the nutritional status of the hall staying students by measuring their
weight, height and MUAC
To obtain information about their socio-economic conditions
To assess the dietary intake pattern of the University students
To generate a source of data bank regarding- nutritional profile of the students of
Dhaka University.
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Chapter # 2
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100 students (19-24 years) from 5 halls of University of Dhaka surveyed using
presented questionnaire about nutritional status. To analyze nutritional status height,
weight and BMI were taken and analyzed using WHO growth standards 2007.
Cross- Sectional study was conducted to survey the nutritional status of hall staying
students of university of Dhaka.
The study was carried out over 5 months from March 2012 to July 2012.
The study was carried out at 5 different halls of university of Dhaka named as
respectively: Surjasen hall, Zahurul haque hall, Rokeya hall, Jagannath hall and
Samsunnahar hall.
A group of 200 students were selected for this study in which 50 were female and the
rest were male students.
Protein energy malnutrition is a major health issue in Bangladesh and it affects the
physical growth and logical development of students. This assumption was taken into
account for sample size determination. Using the statistical formula for comparative
studies, a sample size of 200 students was used and multi-stage sampling was done in
the selection of students.
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Collection of socio-economic information: Each student was asked about his or her
socio-economic status such as age, monthly family income, monthly self-income,
housing audition, source of drinking water, latrine facilities etc. and these were
recorded in the form.
Collection of anthropometric data: A bathroom scale was used to record weight of the
students. The balance was standardized everyday before using. The weight was
recorded on standing position in the weight thing machine on bare foot and with light
cloths. The arms were made to hang loosely at the body sides.
The survey instrument used to collect data was a 32 nutrition questionnaire, which
included not only the above socio-demographic characteristics, but also a series of
multiple-choice and open-end questions assessed various eating habits of the students,
in terms of the type and recipes of the food consumed meal. Students' participation in
the survey was voluntary and responses to these questions were anonymous, e.g., the
questionnaire did not include any student identifiers or names. The questionnaire was
completed during staying time at hall.
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A total of 200 students including both male & female of different 5 halls of university of
Dhaka participated in this study. The salient findings are shown below in tabulated and
figurative forms with interpretation.
Total no. of Hall staying students of University of Dhaka are presented in Table-1. Out of
200 students 50% were male and 50% were female.
17-19 23 67 10 - 20.75
(n=100)
20-23 27 56 17 - 21.0
(n=100)
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The table of age vs PBMI of the students shows that 61.5% students were normal PBMI.
It was also observed that 25% were lean range and 13.5% were in obese range. None
was found to be very obese.
The table of sex vs PBMI of the students shows that male are more normal in case of
PBMI than female. 70% male were normal PBMI and 60% female were normal PBMI.
The table shows that obesity was present more in female 13% than in male 8%.
Table 4: Distribution of all students by monthly family total income with BMI.
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The table shows that the family monthly income mainly lies in the range of 6001-9000
(29%) and 9001-12000 (23.5%)
12%
16%
upto 3000
3001-6000
23%
6001-9000
20%
9001-12000
12000 and above
29%
Upto 3000 8 22 2 32
3001-6000 6 30 4 40
6001-9000 16 38 4 58
9001-12000 10 34 3 47
12001-above 8 12 3 23
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Protein 30 50 60 -20
Fat 40 70 57 -30
Sugar 70 90 78 -20
140
120
100
80 Recommended
Recommended2
60
Intake
40
20
0
Protein Carbohydrate Fat Sugar Sodium
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Nutrition Status of the DU resident Students ID-10011124
From the table & chart of ‘Average daily food intake by a student’ We see that students
take less than the recommended amount of Protein, Fat, Sugar & sodium. Only they take
Carbohydrate more than required. So, these results indicate malnutrition status of the
students.
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2. Due to time limitations many of the aspects could not be discussed in this paper.
Analysis is concise, only major issues are focused.
6. Due to limited access of the data, this study may not be perfect to the cent
percent.
7. I carried out such a study for the first time, so inexperience in analyzing a huge
volume of data is one of the main constraints of the study.
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Chapter# 3
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3.1 Findings
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1. According to Percent Body Mass Index (PBMI), 61.5% students were with
normal range. It was also observed that 25% were lean range and 13.5% were in
obese range. None was found to be very obese.
2. Male students were more normal in case of PBMI than female. 70% male were
normal PBMI and 60% female were normal PBMI. But, obesity was present more
in female 13% than in male 8%.
3. The family monthly income of surveyed students mainly lies in the range of
6001-9000 (29%) and 9001-12000 (23.5%).
4. 68% students were within normal range of nutritional status with their family
income range.
5. Students take less than the recommended amount of Protein, Fat, Sugar &
sodium. Only they take Carbohydrate more than required. So, these results
indicate malnutrition status of the students.
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17-19 23 67 10 - 20.75
(n=100)
20-23 27 56 17 - 21.0
(n=100)
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Table 4: Distribution of all students by monthly family total income with BMI.
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Upto 3000 8 22 2 32
3001-6000 6 30 4 40
6001-9000 16 38 4 58
9001-12000 10 34 3 47
12001-above 8 12 3 23
Protein 30 50 60 -20
Fat 40 70 57 -30
Sugar 70 90 78 -20
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12%
16%
upto 3000
3001-6000
23%
6001-9000
20%
9001-12000
12000 and above
29%
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140
120
100
80 Recommended
Recommended2
60
Intake
40
20
0
Protein Carbohydrate Fat Sugar Sodium
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Chapter# 4
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4.0 Discussion
The logic behind this study was that, few studies have been done to investigate the
nutritional status and the dietary intake among selected University students. No
information on the nutritional status of the hall staying students of Dhaka University
was obtained so far.
Form this analysis it is reveled that, 61.5% students were with normal range according
to Percent Body Mass Index (PBMI). It was also observed that 25% were lean range and
13.5% were in obese range. None was found to be very obese. These results refer to the
average health condition of the hall staying students, not so good.
From the viewpoint of sex, it is found that, male students were more normal in case of
PBMI than female. 70% male were normal PBMI and 60% female were normal PBMI.
And, obesity was present more in female 13% than in male 8%. So, female students are
with poorer health condition than male.
Since, income has an impact on health & health services; income is considered as an
important factor in this research. The family monthly income of surveyed students
mainly lies in the range of 6001-9000 (29%) and 9001-12000 (23.5%). So, 52.5%
students’ family monthly income mainly lies in the range of 6000-12000. To get proper
food, nutrition & health services, these amounts are not satisfactory. From the study it is
found that, 68% students were within normal range of nutritional status with their
family income range.
Another important test under this study was about nutritional condition of the students.
From the analysis, it is revealed that, Students take less than the recommended amount
of Protein, Fat, Sugar & sodium. Only they take Carbohydrate more than required. So,
these results indicate malnutrition status of the students.
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There are several reasons why the dietary intake and nutritional status of the hall
staying students of University of Dhaka are of concern to the nutritionists. This is an age
group characterized by frequent meal skipping, snacks a preference for fast foods etc. it
is also a time when the precursors of nutritionally related diseases might be established.
The students of halls of University of Dhaka represent different segments of the society.
Their nutritional status and performance will largely determine the quality and caliber
of the next generation.
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Chapter# 5
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5.1 Conclusion
The students of halls of University of Dhaka represent different segments of the society.
Their nutritional status and performance will largely determine the quality and caliber
of the next generation. But, analysis of the socio-economic status, anthropometric
measurement, clinical observations and dietary intake of the hall staying students of
University of Dhaka, represent that maximum aspects are not in satisfactory level. So,
healthy diet is required since it allows adults to work productively and feel their best.
Good food choices also can help to prevent chronic diseases, such as heart disease,
certain cancers, diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis that ore leading causes of detour. A
proper diet can also reduce major risk factors for chronic diseases, such as obesity, high
blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.
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5.2 Recommendations
1. The food quality of canteens and messes of DU halls should be improved, since;
Students take less than the recommended amount of Protein, Fat, Sugar &
sodium.
2. The authority should provide subsidy for ensuring food quality, because
maximum students are from lower income family and there exist budget
constraint.
3. The hygienic condition such as cleanliness, safe food, and safe water should be
ensured for each and every student.
4. The awareness should be raised among the young students about food security,
harm of junk food & fast food etc.
6. The authority should increase the budget of health services as well as provide
more qualified doctor in the university medical center.
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Chapter # 6
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References
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Annexure:
Data Collection Questionnaire
1. Name:
2. Father/Husband:
3. Hall:
4. Age:
5. Sex: a) M b) F
6. Department:
7. Session:
8. Height:
9. Weight:
10. BMI:
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20. Do you eat any other food other than not mentioned above?
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Work Schedule:
2012
Literature
review
Data
Collection
Data
compilation
& Analysis
Findings,
conclusion &
reporting
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