Early childhood development in Bangladesh and its socio-demographic determinants of importance

Haq

et al. 2022

IJSE

PurposeEarly literacy and numeracy development among children may be the best measure of a child's well-being. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of child factors, quality of care and household factors, and community factors in early childhood on the development of literacy and numeracy skills of children in Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachFor this study, the authors used data from Bangladesh's 2019 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey. The association between response variables and selected covariates was examined using the chi-square test. To determine the risk factors for early child literacy and numeracy development, the authors applied two-level logistic regression models.FindingsAmong the total of under five children (n = 9,449), in general, 29.1% of the children were growing in the development early childhood literacy and numeracy in Bangladesh. Children (36–47 months), male children, children with moderate stunting, children with severe and moderate underweight status, mothers without education and primary education, and mothers from the poorest, poorer, middle and richer households were less likely than their counterparts to develop children's early literacy and numeracy skills. In contrast, women from the eastern and central regions, children who read at least 3 books, and early childhood education had higher odds of children's literacy and numeracy skills development than their counterparts.Originality/valueThe results from this study suggest that children's, community, quality of care and household level significant factors should be considered when trying to improve children's literacy and numeracy skills development in Bangladesh.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors associated with early literacy and numeracy development among children under five years in Bangladesh: multivariate two-level mixed effect approach

Haq

et al. 2022

IJSE

“…For Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the median prevalence of cognitive 16.1% was not on track, and 28.6% of the social-emotional domain was not developmentally on track [ 7 ]. For Bangladesh, based on multiple indicator cluster surveys (MICS) 2012, 70% of the children were developmentally on track [ 8 ], and for Bangladesh MICS 2019, 25.26% of the children were not developmentally on track with ECDI [ 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Rana et al, (2022), household air pollution from solid fuel use is linked to ECD [ 11 ]. Alam et al, (2021) investigated the current ECD status of young Bangladeshi children aged 3–4 years and how it relates to various sociodemographic and familial aspects [ 9 ]. Increased parental stimulation involvement benefits ECD in LMICs [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early childhood developmental status and its associated factors in Bangladesh: a comparison of two consecutive nationally representative surveys

et al. 2023

Background Inadequate cognitive and socio-emotional development in children leads to physical and mental illness. We aimed to investigate the status of early childhood development (ECD) and its associated factors. Additionally, aimed to compare the changes of significantly associated factors using two multiple indicator cluster surveys (MICS) in Bangladesh. Methods We used data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) 2012 and 2019 nationally representative surveys. A total of 17,494 children aged 36–59 months were included in the analysis. The outcome variable was ECD status: either developmentally on-track or not. We used bivariable analysis and crude and adjusted multivariable logistic models to assess the ECD status and its associated factors. Results Comparing both MICS surveys, the overall and individual domains of ECD status improved from 2012 (65.46%) to 2019 (74.86%), and the indicators of child literacy-numeracy domain improved from 21.2 to 28.8%, physical domain improved from 92.2 to 98.4%, and social-emotional domain improved from 68.4 to 72.7%. The learning approach domain was 87.5% in 2012 and increased to 91.4% in 2019. According to the adjusted logistic model in both surveys (2012 and 2019), the age of 4 years had an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of 1.61 and 1.78 times higher developmentally on track than the age of 3. Female children were 1.42 (in 2012) and 1.44 (in 2019) times more developmentally on track than males. Compared to mothers with only primary education, children raised by mothers with secondary or higher education were 1.77 and 1.50 times more on track in their development. Moreover, Children from affluent families had 1.32- and 1.26 times higher odds- on track than those from the poorest families. Families with books had 1.50 and 1.53 times higher developmentally on track than their counterparts. Conclusion and recommendation In summary, our study shows that the overall ECD status improved between MICS 2012 and MICS 2019. Important factors influence ECD status, including early childhood education programs, families’ possession of children’s books, mothers’ educational level, and wealth index. The findings of our study will help making necessary public health-related initiatives in Bangladesh to improve ECD program.

“…The functional difficulty is one of the reasons for this unsatisfactory finding. Another study in Bangladesh found that children with functional difficulties had 76 percent less development over 36-59 months [ 9 ]. So, it is a well-known fact that the functional difficulties of the child are an important indicator of children's future development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of Child Functional Difficulties and Its Associated Factors in Bangladesh: An Application of Count Regression Model

Habib

BioMed Research International

Haq

et al. 2022

Children that are mentally and physically healthy have a higher quality of life and are better able to function in their daily lives. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating associated factors causing functional difficulties in male and female children ages 5-17 years. This study used data from a nationally representative cross-sectional household survey named the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) Bangladesh 2019. A total of 58,746 children aged 5-17 were selected for the study, where 30,300 children were male, and 28,446 were female. To deal with overdispersed count data, the study used a negative binomial regression model to find the associated factors. The results show that 39.3% of the male children and 40.9% of the female children were from the age group of 10-14. Educated children had a lower risk of dysfunction. Among male children, women with a total number of children ever born of 4 or more were 1.21 times (incidence rate ratios IRR = 1.21 ) more likely to have a dysfunctional child. Children of dysfunctional mothers are more likely to be dysfunctional themselves. The incidence rate ratio for children functional difficulty among Muslim girls was 36 percent higher than non-Muslim girls in Bangladesh. When compared to the Barisal Division, female children in the Mymensingh Division had a 16% higher risk of functional problems. Based on the findings, the Bangladesh government and other development partners should initiate policies and programs to minimize the impact of functional dysfunction in children.