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

Abstract

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.

Home environment factors associated with early childhood development in rural areas of Bangladesh: evidence from a national survey

“…Compared to the poor counterpart, children from households with rich wealth status had better chance to attain overall ECD status, particularly in the literacy-numeracy and learning domains. This result aligns with the previous similar Bangladeshi studies (28,31). This is due to that low socio-economic condition is associated with adequate food, safe water, and sanitation facilities as well as a mother's education which in dearth provokes inadequate development and increases susceptibility to infections (34).…”

“…We found children of 4 years had a higher odd of having ECD on-track status than children of 3 years. This finding is also in line with the previous Bangladeshi studies worked on ECD status among children (28,31). Age is also favorably correlated with the socio-emotional, literacy-numeracy, physical and learning domains, according to our research.…”

“…In this study, the girls were more developmentally on-track than the boys, particularly in the social–emotional domain and overall ECD status. A similar finding was found where boys showed delayed development than girls ( 1 , 28 , 33 ). Emerson et al also showed that Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam had higher rates of males with developmental delays than females ( 32 ).…”

“…When looking at the home environment factors, we found that reading books and telling stories to the children were positively associated with the overall ECD status and literacy-numeracy domain. Previous literature also documented that childhood growth had a significant relationship with parental involvement in children's learning activities such as reading books, and telling stories to them (28,31,39). A Bangladeshi study also identified that if a child has access to children's books and their mother or other primary caregiver reads or tells stories to them, the child responds favorably to the development of the literacy-numeracy domain (31).…”

“…These are if the child gets along well with other children, does not kick, bite or hit other children, and does not get distracted easily. If a child met at least three of these four domains, the child was considered to be developmentally “on track,” and if any child who didn’t meet at least three domains was considered as developmentally “on delayed” ( 28 ). ECDI is then calculated as a percentage of children who are developmentally on-track in at least three of these four domains ( 27 ).…”