Background: Nearly 7.9 million children are working in Bangladesh; many of which in
urban areas, particularly in Dhaka city. Working during childhood impedes the children’s
growth potential leading to malnutrition. The objective of this study was to investigate
the nutritional status and food intake pattern of child laborers of Dhaka city,
Bangladesh.
Methodology: The study followed a cross-sectional study design and was conducted
among 100 randomly selected child laborers (aged 5-17 years) from an NGO led
school of Dhaka. Anthropometric measurements were taken using standard methods
while socio-economic status and dietary intake were assessed through interviewing
the respondents with a pretested questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS, Epi
info and MS excel DANS(R) software.
Results: Forty five percent children were fixed salary earners and 89% of them worked
to support their family. Anthropometric assessment reveled that, 26%, 15% and 26%
respondents were stunted, wasted and underweight respectively. According to BMI
for age, 39% of the children were thinner. Overall, 52.1% and 60.8% of the calorie
requirement and 77.6% and 82.2% of the protein requirement were fulfilled by boys
and girls respectively. Almost all the micronutrients’ requirement except that of thiamin
and vitamin C were very poorly fulfilled.
Conclusions: Overall, nutritional status of the child laborers were below acceptance.
Per capita dietary intake was poor and imbalanced containing very low amount of
micronutrients leading to malnutrition. Nutrition intervention program needs to be
administered especially targeting working children. Adult unemployment and
underemployment should be reduced and parents need to make aware of the harmful
nutritional impact of working in childhood.