Analysis of Malnutrition: A Public Health Issue in Bangladesh

This report addresses the public health issue of malnutrition in Bangladesh, highlighting its prevalence among children and women. It examines the causes, including economic imbalance, and the associated health issues such as underweight, wasting, and stunting. The report discusses the roles of various stakeholders, including the government, healthcare professionals, and international organizations like UNICEF, in addressing the issue through health promotion programs, policy development, and education. It also identifies barriers such as financial constraints and cultural beliefs. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, including health education, regular observation, subsidized care, and media campaigns, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive approach to improve nutritional outcomes and overall public health in Bangladesh. The report is based on the assessment brief provided which required applying systems thinking in the context of the public health issue.

Running head: PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE: MAL NUTRITION
PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE: MAL NUTRITION
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE: MAL NUTRITION
Introduction
Mal nutrition is one of the most prominent factors in the social health of Bangladesh. The
factor of the health issues of the country can be found with the factors of imbalanced health
outcome for the population. It has been seen that there are many persistent health issues present
in the country including malnutrition. There are different causes and effects of this condition
development among the people. The most prominent cause is the economic imbalance of the
country. Hence, in the following section the public health issue of malnutrition in the context of
Bangladesh population will be discusses with the consideration of recommendation to reduce the
issue.
Discussion
It has been seen that approximately 54 per cent of preschool age children are affected by
malnutrition in the country 56 per cent of these children are underweight and 17 per cent are
wasted (Fao.org, 2020). Due to malnutrition there are three primary types of issues found among
the affected people of the country including underweight (49.8 to 64 per cent people), wasting
(20.9 per cent people) and stunting (61.4 per cent) (Fao.org, 2020). However, it has been seen
that the government of the country reduced the rate of the vitamin A deficiency issue among the
preschool children over 15 years time span (Fao.org, 2020). Hence, it can be stated that the
process of the improvement in the health issues are prominent. Although the rate of the reduction
of this negative issue is very low. On the other hand, it can be found that the most vulnerable
population to malnutrition is the women population of the country. Data of malnutrition showed
that the 50 per cent of the women population are affected with the issue (Fao.org, 2020). The
average BMI is lower than 18.5 among the women (Fao.org, 2020). Thus, it can be stated that the

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issue is very much terrifying for the country population. There are different co-morbidities also
present for this situation.
Now, based on the data it can be stated that the process of the health improvement should
be focused on the improving nutrition among the population. Hence, it can be stated that the
improvement of the situation is focused on providing proper knowledge and developing effective
health policies as well as focusing on different social and economic aspects (Das & Gulshan,
2017). In this context, it can be stated that the government and the country population are the
stakeholders for the situation. Health care system and the health care professionals are
stakeholders as well as they are personnel who will effectively develop the plans for the health
promotion and also provide intervention to the affected people. However, It has been seen that
the recent GDP growth is stable (7.9 per cent) in the country and the health factors are improving
as well (Data.worldbank.org, 2020). However, the factor of the health improvement is still
lacking in the country. Now, other than the government, health care system and health care
professionals and the people of the country there are presence of different international health
financing organisations also present. It has been seen that UNICEF, the international NGO
focusing on improving the health and education level of the world is also investing in the health
care system of the country to improve the situation of the malnutrition. It has been seen that
UNICEF used some strategies to improve the situation for the children health. In this context, the
organisation conducted home based health promotion program which is focused on the education
providence to the people and the children about the healthy and diverse diet, breaking the
cultural barriers and data collection about the negative causes of the malnutrition (UNICEF,
2020). Thus, it can be stated that the process of health promotion and reducing the malnutrition
among the people. Thus, it can be understood that the process of the health promotion and the

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reduction of the prevalence of the malnutrition among the children the government should
develop different health policies and education strategies that can develop the knowledge
regarding the nutritional improvement of people of the country (Anik et al., 2019). Hence, it can
be stated that the stakeholders of this context is the government, health care professionals and the
people of the country. It has been seen that the malnutrition is prominent among the people from
the lower economic group. Based on all these factors it can be stated that the change in the
situation should be considered with priority. However, there are barriers found in the process of
the health promotion delivery and the improvement of the health condition of the people. The
barriers include the financial structure, economic imbalance and also the cultural belief of the
people (Ireen et al., 2018). Hence, these factors should be considered with priority by the
government and the health care facility of the country to prevent the issues.
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion it can be concluded that the malnutrition is a dire situation
for the people of Bangladesh. Hence, proper administration, surveillance, health policy
development and also partnering with the financial organisations are the basic factors which will
be effective for the improvement of the situation. Thus, it should be considered and also the
health economy should be improved for the effective intervention of the situation. Hence, the
health promotion for the malnutrition control should be focused on the improvement of the
education level of the people regarding diet and also the nutritional importance. However, there
are some barriers present and should be considered as well.

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Recommendation
There are several issues regarding the situation of the malnutrition of the children and the
women of the country. Hence, the following are the recommended processes for the
improvement of situation:
 The health promotion should be developed with the consideration of health education
development.
 Regular observation of people and also developing health policy depending on this factor.
 Subsidised care providence to the people who are affected with malnutrition.
 Television or social media campaign for nutritional knowledge providence (Debnath et
al., 2017).

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