Effect of women-focused development programme on nutritional status of rural women

Abstract

Objective: Assess the effect of women-focused development programme on the nutritional status of women measured by the body mass index (3ml). Methodology: Anthropometric measurements and socioeconomic information of 1,597 women aged 15-55 years were obtained from eight villages of Matlab thana, through the BRAC-ICDDR.B Joint Research Project during April-August 1995. BMI of <16 was used as a cut-off point for severe chronic energy deficiency. The association between the proportion of women with BMI of <16 and the BRAC membership status (categorized as BRAC member poor, BRAC non-member poor and rich ) was explored in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. In the multivariate analysis, the effect of age, parity, and education of women was controlled. Results: According to the multivariate analysis, age, parity, and BRAC membership status of the households showed a significant association with the proportion of severely malnourished women. In the comparative sense, the BRAC-member women had a 35% more chance of being severely malnourished, whereas the BRAC-non-member poor women had a 64% more chance of being severely malnourished than the women from the rich households. Conclusion: The development programme focused on women has a positive impact on the women's nutritional status