Assessment of Nutritional Status of Infants Living in Arsenic-Contaminated Areas in Bangladesh and Its Association with Arsenic Exposure

Abul Hasnat Milton, John Attia, Mohammad Alauddin, Mark McEvoy, Patrick McElduff, Sumaira Hussain, Ayesha Akhter, Shahnaz Akter, M. Munirul Islam, Shamsir Ahmed Am, Vasu Iyengar and Md Rafiqul Islam
Additional contact information
Abul Hasnat Milton: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia
John Attia: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia
Mohammad Alauddin: Department of Chemistry, Wagner College, 1 Campus Road, Staten Island, NY 10301, USA
Mark McEvoy: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia
Patrick McElduff: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia
Sumaira Hussain: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia
Ayesha Akhter: Goulburn Valley Health, Graham Street, Shepparton, VIC 3630, Australia
Shahnaz Akter: Department of Paediatrics, Institute of Child and Mother Health, Matuail, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
M. Munirul Islam: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Shamsir Ahmed Am: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Diseases Research, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh
Vasu Iyengar: Goulburn Valley Health, Graham Street, Shepparton, VIC 3630, Australia
Md Rafiqul Islam: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology & Biostatistics (CCEB), School of Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Health, The University of Newcastle, Kookaburra Close, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Data is scarce on early life exposure to arsenic and its association with malnutrition during infancy. This study followed the nutritional status of a cohort of 120 infants from birth to 9 months of age in an arsenic contaminated area in Bangladesh. Anthropometric data was collected at 3, 6 and 9 months of the infant’s age for nutritional assessment whereas arsenic exposure level was assessed via tube well drinking water arsenic concentration at the initiation of the study. Weight and height measurements were converted to Z -scores of weight for age (WAZ-underweight), height for age (HAZ-stunting), weight for height (WHZ-wasting) for children by comparing with WHO growth standard. Arsenic exposure levels were categorized as <50 μg/L and ≥50 μg/L. Stunting rates (<−2 SD) were 10% at 3 months and 44% at both 6 and 9 months. Wasting rates (<−2 SD) were 23.3% at 3 months and underweight rates (<−2 SD) were 25% and 10% at 3 and 6 months of age, respectively. There was a significant association of stunting with household drinking water arsenic exposure ≥50 μg/L at age of 9 months ( p = 0.009). Except for stunting at 9 months of age, we did not find any significant changes in other nutritional indices over time or with levels of household arsenic exposure in this study. Our study suggests no association between household arsenic exposure and under-nutrition during infancy; with limiting factors being small sample size and short follow-up. Difference in stunting at 9 months by arsenic exposure at ≥50 μg/L might be a statistical incongruity. Further longitudinal studies are warranted to establish any association.

Keywords: arsenic; Bangladesh; drinking water; infants; children; malnutrition; underweight; stunting; wasting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/57/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/1/57/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:1:p:57-:d:125110

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().