Low dietary diversity is a predictor of child stunting in rural Bangladesh

Background/objectives Dietary diversity is associated with overall quality and nutrient adequacy of the diet in low-income countries. We determined the association between dietary diversity and stunting among children aged 6-59 months in rural Bangladesh. Subjects/methods In total, 165 111 under-fives who participated in the National Surveillance Project in 2003-2005 were included in the analysis. Dietary diversity score (DDS) was constructed through the summation of the number of days each of the nine food groups was consumed in the previous week. The association between stunting and DDS was determined adjusting for confounders using logistic regression models. All analyses were performed separately for children aged 6-11, 12-23 and 24-59 months. Results One-half of the children were stunted. In multivariate analyses, compared with…