Comparison of the Nutritional Status and Infant Feeding Practices Between Selected Rural and Urban Areas in Bangladesh

The study was cross sectional design and carried out among 122 mother-infant pairs of the urban and rural areas in Tangail district, Bangladesh, aimed at the comparison of infant feeding practices and nutritional status of the rural and urban areas. There was a significant difference observed in their educational level (urban graduate 44.3% compared to rural graduate 2.4%), total monthly income and expenditure on food and non-food items. The mean monthly income of urban and rural family were 34508.19±8227.67 TK. and 6422.95±1756.23 TK. respectively. Similarly monthly expenditure on foods of urban and rural family were 13090.16±2348.53 TK. and 4498.36±1394.76 TK. respectively. Colostrum feeding immediately after birth was higher in urban areas (75.4%) compared to rural (47.5%). Moreover, rural mother prefers to give honey and sugar water. In urban areas breast feeding initiated within 1 hour, but in rural areas it was given within 12 hours after birth. Urban mother provided powder milk (49.18%) as first complementary foods, in contrast, rural mothers provided mainly cow’s milk, hotchpotch made with vegetables and rice/cereal based products. Rural mother continued breast feeding practice for longer period of time than urban mothers. Majority of the urban mothers prefer egg, soup or fruits for their babies, while the rural people choices mainly the rice-potato, pulses or vegetables. The anthropometric indices shows that nutritional status of the urban infants was better than rural infants. The prevalence of moderate to severe underweight is higher in rural areas (59.01%) when compared to urban areas (18.03%). Again, moderate to severe stunted and wasted in rural areas found 39.34% & 37.69% and in urban areas 21.31% & 13.11% respectively.