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Iron in groundwater provides a good source of absorbable iron for humans and can contribute to optimal iron and haemoglobin (Hb) status among populations. We aimed to examine the relationship between the iron content of groundwater and anaemia status among 12- to 23-month-old children in a rural area of Bangladesh.A cross-sectional study was conducted in 80 randomly selected unions (the lowest administrative unit) in Sylhet and Moulvibazar districts of Bangladesh. A total of 800 children aged 12-23 months were selected via a systematic random sampling method. The child's age, sex, stunting status, consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified food, maternal age and maternal body mass index (BMI) and the type of terrain were subjected to multiple logistic regression analysis to observe the independent relationships between groundwater iron content and anaemia in children.In total, 50.4% of children were anaemic. The odds of children being anaemic were 1.51-fold higher [OR: 1.51 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.09)] among households consuming water with an iron content2 mg/L than in households consuming water with an iron content ≥2 mg/L. Childhood stunting, child's sex, child's age and the type of terrain were also significantly associated with anaemia among children.Groundwater with a high iron concentration was significantly associated with a decreased risk of childhood anaemia. This study provides evidence of the importance of groundwater iron to protect impoverished young children from anaemia.

Adequate dietary diversity among infants is often suboptimal in developing countries. We assessed the impact of nutrition counselling using a digital job aid on dietary diversity of children aged 6–23 months using data from a cluster randomised controlled trial in Bangladesh. The trial had five arms, each with 25 clusters. The four intervention arms provided counselling using a digital job aid and different prenatal and post‐natal combinations of lipid‐based supplements and the comparison arm with usual practice. We enrolled 1500 pregnant women and followed them until the children reached their second birthday. We developed a tablet‐based system for intervention delivery, data collection and project supervision. We combined the four intervention arms (n = 855), in which community health workers (CHWs) provided age‐appropriate complementary feeding counselling, to compare against the comparison arm (n = 403). We calculated the outcome indicators from the children's 24‐h dietary recalls. Overall, the intervention increased the mean dietary diversity score by 0.09 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.2–0.16) and odds of minimum dietary diversity by 18% (95% CI: 0.99–1.40). However, there was a significant interaction on the effect of the intervention on dietary diversity by age. The mean dietary diversity score was 0.24 (95% CI: 0.11–0.37) higher in the intervention than in the comparison arm at 9 months and 0.14 (95% CI: 0.01–27) at 12 months of age. The intervention effect was non‐significant at an older age. Overall, consumption of flesh food was 1.32 times higher in the intervention arm (odds ratio [OR] 1.32, 95% CI: 1.11–1.57) in 6–23 months of age. The intervention significantly improved child dietary diversity score in households with mild and moderate food insecurity by 0.27 (95% CI: 0.06–0.49) and 0.16 (0.05–27), respectively, but not with food‐secure and severely food‐insecure households. Although the study did not evaluate the impact of digital job aid alone, the findings indicate the utility of nutrition counselling by CHWs using a digital job aid to improve child feeding practices in broader programmes.

Adequate maternal healthcare practices are crucial to both maternal and infant nutrition outcomes. The Sylhet region of Bangladesh is vulnerable and performs poorly, as maternal and child health indicators are falling behind compared to other areas. Suchana, a large‐scale intervention programme aims to improve the health and nutritional status of mothers and children in this region. The objective of the present analysis is to assess the changes in indicators related to maternal healthcare practices among Suchana beneficiaries. We obtained data from the Suchana baseline and endline evaluation survey. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize data. The following maternal healthcare practices were considered: if a Suchana beneficiary mother received antenatal care (ANC) from skilled service providers, took day time resting during pregnancy, consumed additional diet during pregnancy, took at least 100 iron‐folic acid (IFA) tablets during pregnancy and took a vitamin A capsule after delivery. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the impact of the Suchana intervention on maternal healthcare practices. The prevalence of the outcome variables at endline in the intervention area were as follows: 40% of mothers received at least four ANC from skilled service providers, 50% practiced daytime resting during pregnancy, 51% consumed additional diet during pregnancy, 41% took at least 100 iron‐folic acid tablets during pregnancy, 39% received postnatal care and 30% took a vitamin A capsule after delivery. The Suchana intervention significantly, positively improved indicators related to maternal healthcare practices; these findings support future larger‐scale programmes to improve maternal healthcare practices among vulnerable people in rural Bangladesh.

Although there has been a decline in rates of child stunting in Bangladesh, more than one‐third of under‐five children still suffer from impaired linear growth. Results of the demographic health surveys since 2004 show that the rate of stunting decreased by only 1.5 percentage points per year (NIPORT, Mitra and Associates & ICF International, 2015). This is not anticipated, given the impressive results the country has demonstrated in reducing infant and maternal mortality over the past two decades (NIPORT, MEASURE Evaluation, and ICDDR,B 2012). Stunting seems to be pervasive throughout the country and is very high in children in slum settlements. Poverty and lack of education are associated with stunting in Bangladesh as elsewhere; however, 21% children from households belonging to the richest wealth quintiles are also stunted. About one‐third of children of literate mothers also suffer from stunting. Therefore, the aetiology of stunting is still not clear, although data from Bangladesh suggest that factors associated with the condition include poor maternal nutrition, low birthweight (LBW), severe food insecurity, inappropriate complementary feeding, poverty, illiteracy, poor sanitation, and hygiene practices (Ahmed et al, 2012; Psaki et al., 2014). There is increasing evidence that environmental enteropathy, a condition where the small intestinal mucosa is colonized and damaged by pathogenic bacteria, is one cause of malabsorption of nutrients and stunting. This happens when hygiene and sanitation practices are poor and young children are chronically exposed to bacteria in the environment.

This study aimed to explore the causes, types, and consequences of authorship conflicts among the researchers of selected research institutions in Dhaka, Bangladesh; and to suggest ways to reduce conflicts. A sample of 100 researchers was given a semi-structured questionnaire; 45 subjects responded. The responses were confidential and anonymous. Over two-thirds of the respondents were aware of authorship conflicts, and one-third had actually faced conflicts with their co-authors. Of them, four faced conflicts with their juniors, while 13 faced conflicts with their seniors or supervisors. The primary causes of such conflicts appear to be unethical claims of authorship, violation of authorship order, and deprivation of authorship. In most cases, the victims became frustrated and had to give up, and avoided a direct clash to safeguard their job. Four respondents claimed to have been victimized for raising their voice. Conflict was never resolved in seven cases. To reduce conflicts, respondents suggested that authorship should be decided before the study begins, order of authorship must be determined according to contribution, and a standard code of authorship should be followed strictly. Authorship conflicts arise among researchers mostly due to what they regard as unethical practice of their co-authors, supervisors, and department heads in the absence of any formal authorship policy in the institutions. A standard code of authorship, sensitization of researchers to the problem through open discussions and advocacy, and formation of a grievance redress committee are suggested to minimize such conflicts. Although the sample size was small, some of the specific recommendations will be appropriate in many other cases.

Mothers are often responsible for preparing nutritious foods in their households. However, the quality of mother's diets is often neglected, which may affect both mother's and child's nutrition. Because no single food contains all necessary nutrients, diversity in dietary sources is needed to ensure a quality diet. We aimed to study the association between mother's dietary diversity and stunting in children

Globally, undernutrition affects nearly half of all children aged less than 5 years. It is more prominent in low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the age-specific risk factors for different categories of undernutrition among Bangladeshi children aged less than 2 years. Data of 10,291 children aged less than 2 years were collected between October 2011 to November 2013 through the Food Security Nutritional Surveillance Project in Bangladesh. Simple logistic regression established bivariate relationships between the categories of undernutrition and the relevant risk factors. Multiple logistic regression constructed the age-specific regression models depicting the independent association and effect size of the risk factors contributing to the various categories of undernutrition among study population. Stunting was prevalent among 30.9% of the study children, whereas 9.7% were wasted and 24.9% were underweight. Being a male child, increase in age, maternal body mass index and education, and household food insecurity were the strongest predictors for all categories of undernutrition in terms of effect size. Our study shows that the different categories of childhood undernutrition have different age-specific risk factors. Maternal body mass index and household food insecurity were the common age-specific risk factors for all categories of undernutrition. We expect our findings to enhance the existing evidence base for the risk factors of undernutrition among children aged less than 2 years.