Women’s Decision-making Autonomy and Some Demographic Factors Associated With Higher Dietary Diversity in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Consumption of diverse nutrient-rich diets is vital for maintaining a healthy life. A low-quality monotonous diet dominated by starchy staple foods is common in Bangladesh, which leads to the development of diseases associated with micronutrient deficiencies, particularly in women and their offspring. This research aims to validate the association between women’s decision-making autonomy and their attainment of higher dietary diversity (DD), as well as identify the sociodemographic factors that can independently predict higher DD.Methods: This study was conducted using the data selected from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2014. Women (n = 17,842) aged 15–49 years, with their complete dietary details, were selected as the participants. The DDS was obtained from a 24-h recall of dietary intake from nine food groups and was categorized into lower DDS (DD ≤ 4) and higher DDS (DD ≥ 5). The relationship between the decision-making independence of women and DDS was studied using logistic regression.Results: It was observed that almost all women consumed starchy foods, followed by flesh (meat or fish) (83.86%) and fruits (67.30%). The involvement of women in decision-making for household purchases was significantly correlated with higher dietary diversity. The odds were higher among women who participated in household purchases compared to women who did not (OR 2.40; 95% CI: 0.52–9.83; p = 0.022). Women who had higher and secondary education were 2.72 (95% CI: 0.49–15.02; p = 0.025) and 1.31 (95% CI: 0.28–6.18; p = 0.029) times more likely to achieve higher DD compared to those with no education. Women in the richer wealth quintiles were 6.49 (OR 6.49; 95% CI: 1.12–37.5; p = 0.037) times more likely to achieve higher DD compared to women in poorer wealth quintiles.Conclusion: The research findings suggested that the socioeconomic status, empowerment, and higher education of women may contribute to the purchase of nutritious foods and higher dietary diversity.