Assessment of Nutritional Status and Drug Abuse among Street Children of Dhaka City in Bangladesh: A Cross-Sectional Study
Khaleda Islam
Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.
Md. Ishahaque Ali
Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Govt. of The People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Bangladesh.
Israt Jahan
Department of Food Technology and Nutrition Science, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Bangladesh.
Humaira Sadia
Department of Public Health Nutrition, Primeasia University, Banani, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Eyad Ahmed *
Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Street children are often deprived of the basic human rights in our society and hence they suffer from various forms of malnutrition and usually get addicted to different drugs.
Objective: The current study aimed to assess the nutritional status and drug abuse of the street children of Dhaka city.
Methodology: It was a descriptive cross-sectional study with randomly selected 100 street children (51 male and 49 female) aged three to fifteen years old from Dhaka city between the timeframe of January, 2016 to June, 2016. Data was collected by face-to-face interview with a pre-tested questionnaire involving their socio-economic data, nutritional status and information concerning drug abuse. Data analysis was conducted by IBM SPSS version 20.0, WHO Anthro and WHO Anthro Plus software. Various descriptive statistics like mean±SD, frequency, percentage along with binary logistic regression analysis was performed for the current study.
Results: The respondents’ mean age was 9±3 years. Majority of the street children (92%) knew about their mother’s identity whereas about 35% of them did not know about their father’s identity. Their monthly income ranged from one thousand BDT to three-thousand five hundred BDT. The study showed that about 47% of respondents were stunted, and nearly 58% were underweight. It was also found that about 82% of the respondents were drug abusers. However, about 45% were addicted to cigarette smoking and 24% were having marijuana in regular basis. Significant association was found between drug abuse and underweight status (AOR=1.27, p=.038) but no association was found between stunting rate and drug abuse of the respondents (AOR=1.03, p=.670).
Conclusion: Appropriate measures ought to be taken to enhance the nutritional status and reducing the rate of drug abuse among this segment of our population to secure a productive and healthy adult life for them in the future. Further large scale research is recommended to explore the determinants of the nutritional status and their drug abuse in Dhaka City.
Keywords: Street children, nutritional status, drug abuse, Dhaka city
How to Cite
Downloads
References
United Nations, Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); 2015.
Dallape, F. Street Children in Africa, Paper presented at the symposium on streetchildren in the Third World, Carita Neerlandica and the Working Group on DevelopmentStudies, University of Amsterdam; 1989.
Cosgrove JG. Towards a working definition of street children. International Social Work. 1990 Apr;33(2):185-92.
Lugalla JL, Mbwambo JK. Street children and street life in urban Tanzania: The culture of surviving and its implications for children’s health. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 1999 Jun;23(2):329-44.
Definitions and classifications of street children.
Available:https://ebrary.net/217596/education/definitions_classifications_street_children
Accessed: June 26, 2023.
Hakim MA, Kamruzzaman M. Nutritional status of central Bangladesh street children. American Journal of Food Science and Nutrition Research. 2015; 2(5):133-7.
Talukder MU, Alam MM, Islam MA, Paul GK, Islam MT, Akther F. Study on the nutritional status of the street children at Shabagh Area of Dhaka City. International Journal of Nutrition and Food Sciences. 2015;4(3):240-5.
Greksa LP, Rie N, Islam AR, Maki U, Omori K. Growth and healthstatus of street children inDhaka, Bangladesh. American Journal of Human Biology. 2007Jan; 19(1):51-60.
Hakim MA, Rahman A. Health and nutritional condition of street children of Dhaka city: An empirical study in Bangladesh. Science Journal of Public Health. 2016;4(1-1):6-9.
Chowdhury S, Chowdhury AS, Huq KE, Jahan Y, Chowdhury R, Ahmed T, Rahman MM. Life style and risk behavior of street children in Bangladesh: A health perspective. Health. 2017;9(04): 577.
Masud JH, Khan MM. Pattern of drug abuse among street children of Dhaka: Inhalants are the most popular drug. Delta Medical College Journal. 2018 Mar10; 6(1):29-34.
Hasan K, Khan MA, Sujon SM, Kabir KH, Habiba U. Loops surrounding street children’s drug addiction in South-Western urban Bangladesh: Evidences from Khulna City. Int. J. Bus. Soc. Sci. Res. 2020;8(1):53-8.
Sarker MJ, Al Marjuk O, Alam M. Drug Addiction among Street Children: A Case Study of Dhaka City.
Hossain MI, Ahmed Z. Social Bonding and Drug Addiction: A Study on the street children in Dhaka City. ASA University Review. 2015 Jul 1;9(2).
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and UNICEF. Survey on street children living in street situations- Survey Findings Report; 2022.
Hixon AL. Social correlates of malnutrition among Filipino street children. Connecticut Medicine. 1993 Jun 1;57(6):373-6.
Jesmin, E. Health and Living condition of Street Children in Dhaka City. Poverty and Health, ICCDR, B; 2004.
Street Children. Available:https://theirworld.org/resources/streetchildren/#:~:text=The%20United%20Nations%20estimates%20there,vulnerable%20to%20exploitation%20and%20violence
Accessed: June 26, 2023.
Appropriate Resources for Improving Street Children Environment (ARISE), Shamanic, Child Right, week-2004; 2004 October 5.