BackgroundOverweight and obesity are increasing in low- and middle-income countries, while underweight remains a significant health problems. However, the association between double burden of nutrition and risk of adverse birth and health outcomes is still unclear in Bangladesh. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of maternal undernutrition and excessive body weight on a range of maternal and child health outcomes.MethodsIn this study, we used Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2011 and 2014 data sets to cover the maternal, child and non-communicable diseases related health outcomes. The study considered a range of outcome variables including pregnancy complication, cesarean delivery, diabetes, hypertension, stunting, and wasting, low birth weight, genital discharge, genital sore/ulcer, stillbirth, early neonatal mortality, perinatal mortality, preterm birth and prolonged labor. The key exposure variable was maternal body mass index. Multilevel regression analysis was performed to examine the association between outcomes and exposure variables.ResultsMaternal overweight and obesity has increased from 10% in 2004 to 24% in 2014, a 240% increase in 10 years. Between 2004 and 2014, maternal undernutrition declined from 33% to 18%, a reduction rate of only 54% in 10 years. Compared to normal-weight women, overweight and obese women were more likely to have experienced pregnancy complication, cesarean delivery, diabetes, and hypertension. Underweight women were 1.3 times more likely to have children with stunting and 1.6 times more likely to experience wasting compared to normal weight women. Maternal BMI was not significantly associated with increased risk of genital sore or ulcer, genital discharge, menstrual irregularities, or low birth weight though in certain cases risk was higher.ConclusionsHigh maternal overweight and obesity were observed to have significant adverse effects on health outcomes, while underweight was a risk factor for newborn health. The findings show that weight management is necessary to prevent adverse birth and health outcomes in Bangladesh.Trial registrationData related to health was collected by following the guidelines of ICF international and Bangladesh Medical Research Council. The registration number of data collection is 132989.0.000 and the data-request was registered on March 11, 2015.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13690-017-0181-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This cross-sectional study has evaluated the level of the COVID-19 response among the general people of Bangladesh through their COVID-19 basic knowledge, attitude and practice level to reduce the outbreak. A rapid selfadministered online survey was conducted during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Bangladesh. Convenience and snowball sampling technique were followed in this study. The online survey was open for all Bangladeshi general people whether they were infected or not. For this study, total 616 Bangladeshi respondents participated where majority of them were from Dhaka city, one of the worst COVID-19 affected cities in the world. Normality of data was checked before statistical analysis. Majority of the respondents reported moderate safety of their current place from COVID-19 with high concern of their mental health during COVID-19 lockdown period. The total COVID-19 responses among these people were moderate along with the alarming high percentages of low COVID-19 responses. The respondents reported moderate COVID-19 knowledge level and moderate attitude level toward ABOUT THE AUTHOR

No abstract

With the fluctuating condition of the pandemic, people's perception of COVID-19 is also inconstant. If people perceive a low risk of any health emergency or any other crisis, they won't look for proper information to change their attitude, which might increase their risk. Through the use of two different theories and a mixed-method approach, this study attempted to understand the current perception about COVID-19 and the relationship between risk perception and information-seeking behavior. Survey and in-depth key informant interviews were used as tools for data collection. The results indicated that COVID-19 related risk perception changes following people's demographic and socio-economic characteristics. Also, the study found out a relationship of variation in information-seeking behavior on the basis of factors like demographic characteristics, past experience of any emergency, salience, and belief. Results specified that people seek information differently when they perceive a risk to be of higher order. The study summarized that the information sought about any risk could also amplify or reduce the level of perceived risk. In the end, the study concluded that if people do not perceive the risk of any emergency and don't seek proper information, raising awareness about a pandemic like COVID-19 and managing the emergency will be challenging.

The present study was designed to investigate the relationship between smoking and antioxidant nutrient intake and status. Smoker (n 44) and non-smoker (n 44) male students attending Dhaka University, aged between 22 and 28 years and Living in a University Hall of Residence, were selected for the present study. Mean age, body weight, BMI and blood pressure were similar for both the smokers and non-smokers. Mean energy, protein and fat intakes were similar for both groups. Smokers had lower intakes of dietary vitamin C, carotenes and Zn but only the difference in Zn intake was statistically significant. There was no significant difference between smokers and non-smokers for either serum vitamin A (retinol) or vitamin E (a-tocopherol) level. The plasma vitamin C level of smokers was significantly lower than that of non-smokers (P = 0.0004). Smokers had significantly lower serum Cu (P = 0.04) and higher serum Zn levels (P = 0.003). Further, a significant do,sc+response relationship between smoking and vitamin C status was observed. Linear-regression analysis showed a significantly positive correlation between dietary intake and plasma vitamin C values in non-smokers (r 0.50; P = 0.0005). On the contrary, no such association was observed in smokers. These findings suggest that smoking may cause an imbalance in antioxidant nutrient intake and status.