Project Title: Association of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene with Stunting among Under Five Children in Bangladesh

Stunting among children under the age of five is a chronic issue in developing countries like Bangladesh. Every year, ten and a half million children under the age of five die around the world, and 98% of these deaths happen in developing nations. Water, sanitation, and hygiene have been known for a long time to be important to both public health and the health of young children. The goal of this study is, therefore, to identify the association beware of water, sanitation, and hygiene with stunting among under-five children in Bangladesh. The data for the study came from the 2017–2018 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), which covered a nationally representative sample. This study utilized appropriate statistical tools to measure the effects of variables, such as univariate, bivariate analyses as well as multivariate analysis. This study found that those children who washed their hands in unobserved places (OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.06-1.85, p-value<0.032) and had their toilet in their own yard (OR = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.42-2.03, p-value<0.001) or elsewhere (OR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.94-3.36, p-value<0.001) had significantly higher odds of stunting. The risk of having stunted children was found to be relatively low when the source of drinking water (OR = 0.66, 95% CI: 0.45-0.98, p-value<0.048) and type of toilet facility (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.45-0.98, p-value<0.001) were improved. Also, availability of soap in hand washing places (OR = 0.82, 95% CI: 0.72-0.93, p-value<0.002) and water treatment to make it safe to drink (OR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.46-0.99, p-value<0.014) had a lower risk of stunting. The major challenges to improving Bangladesh's nutrition and sanitation conditions necessitate careful planning and substantial investments in appropriate interventions that include both direct and indirect approaches. To effectively fight chronic undernutrition and stunting, we need a plan to develop sustainable strategies to improve various social and environmental factors those are closely associated with stunting.

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