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Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh

Received: 28 September 2015    Accepted: 20 October 2015    Published: 28 October 2015
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Abstract

This cross-sectional study was conducted in a central statistical subdivision (i.e. Tangail district) in Bangladesh. A sample of 240 homeless children was collected from 12 different locations in the study area during the period from November 2014 to July 2015 by using a structured questionnaire and the simple random sampling method. The anthropometric measurements and background data were collected from these children. Analyses reveal that male children are significantly high in homelessness situation (85%). Nearly two-third of the homeless children were malnourished including about 60.42% were underweight and 6.25% were overweight conditions. Findings also demonstrate that about 63.75% children were able to manage their foods three times in a day and the rest 36.25% were able to manage twice or once meal in a day. Most of the study children (80%) regularly washed their hand before taking a meal and 57.5% taken bath in a daily basis, and about 61.5% of them have been suffered by diseases within the last 3 months prior to conducting the study. Moreover, about 38.33% children were in workforce while 61.67% were purely work abstainers.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 4, Issue 1-1)

This article belongs to the Special Issue Childhood Malnutrition in Developing Countries

DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13
Page(s) 10-15
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Malnutrition, Nutrition and Health, Homeless Children, Cross-Sectional Study, Bangladesh

References
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  • APA Style

    Azizur Rahman, Md. Abdul Hakim. (2015). Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh. Science Journal of Public Health, 4(1-1), 10-15. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13

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    ACS Style

    Azizur Rahman; Md. Abdul Hakim. Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh. Sci. J. Public Health 2015, 4(1-1), 10-15. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13

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    AMA Style

    Azizur Rahman, Md. Abdul Hakim. Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh. Sci J Public Health. 2015;4(1-1):10-15. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13,
      author = {Azizur Rahman and Md. Abdul Hakim},
      title = {Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh},
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {4},
      number = {1-1},
      pages = {10-15},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.s.2016040101.13},
      abstract = {This cross-sectional study was conducted in a central statistical subdivision (i.e. Tangail district) in Bangladesh. A sample of 240 homeless children was collected from 12 different locations in the study area during the period from November 2014 to July 2015 by using a structured questionnaire and the simple random sampling method. The anthropometric measurements and background data were collected from these children. Analyses reveal that male children are significantly high in homelessness situation (85%). Nearly two-third of the homeless children were malnourished including about 60.42% were underweight and 6.25% were overweight conditions. Findings also demonstrate that about 63.75% children were able to manage their foods three times in a day and the rest 36.25% were able to manage twice or once meal in a day. Most of the study children (80%) regularly washed their hand before taking a meal and 57.5% taken bath in a daily basis, and about 61.5% of them have been suffered by diseases within the last 3 months prior to conducting the study. Moreover, about 38.33% children were in workforce while 61.67% were purely work abstainers.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - Malnutrition Prevalence and Health Practices of Homeless Children: A Cross-Sectional Study in Bangladesh
    AU  - Azizur Rahman
    AU  - Md. Abdul Hakim
    Y1  - 2015/10/28
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13
    DO  - 10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13
    T2  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Science Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Science Journal of Public Health
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7950
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.s.2016040101.13
    AB  - This cross-sectional study was conducted in a central statistical subdivision (i.e. Tangail district) in Bangladesh. A sample of 240 homeless children was collected from 12 different locations in the study area during the period from November 2014 to July 2015 by using a structured questionnaire and the simple random sampling method. The anthropometric measurements and background data were collected from these children. Analyses reveal that male children are significantly high in homelessness situation (85%). Nearly two-third of the homeless children were malnourished including about 60.42% were underweight and 6.25% were overweight conditions. Findings also demonstrate that about 63.75% children were able to manage their foods three times in a day and the rest 36.25% were able to manage twice or once meal in a day. Most of the study children (80%) regularly washed their hand before taking a meal and 57.5% taken bath in a daily basis, and about 61.5% of them have been suffered by diseases within the last 3 months prior to conducting the study. Moreover, about 38.33% children were in workforce while 61.67% were purely work abstainers.
    VL  - 4
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Author Information
  • School of Computing and Mathematics, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga NSW 2678, Australia

  • Department of Food Technology and Nutritional Science, Faculty of Life Science, Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University, Santosh, Tangail, Bangladesh

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