 Malnutrition levels in Bangladesh remain the highest in the world, providing the starkest evidence of the barriers to its economic and social development. Nearly 700 children die of malnutrition-related causes in Bangladesh every day. Among those who survive, nearly 60 percent are seriously underweight. Malnutrition costs the country roughly $1 billion per year in treatment costs and lost productivity.
In 1995, the government launched the Bangladesh Integrated Nutrition Project (BINP) with support from UNICEF and a $59.8 million credit from the World Bank. It is one of the largest nutrition programs of its kind operating in the developing world today. By the end of 2001, the project had reached more than 3 million households in over 13,000 villages across Bangladesh, providing such services as child growth monitoring and food supplementation for those most at risk - children under the age of two, women who are breast-feeding, and pregnant women.
In the areas served by the program, severe malnutrition among children under two years of age declined to 2 percent from 13 percent over six years. The number of low birth-weight babies fell 30 percent, and at least half of all pregnant women in the targeted areas have gained weight.
In 2000, the World Bank approved another $92 million for a broader-reaching National Nutrition Program, aimed at expanding community-based nutrition services and activities. This new initiative is seeking to ensure diverse and nutritious food is provided to a group comprising nearly one-third of the Bangladeshi population. The BINP project has been successful in feeding and restoring the health of over 1.2 million teenage girls; 191,000 lactating women; 158,000 pregnant mothers; and 718,000 children under two years of age.
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 Bangladesh
Health, Nutrition & Population
Updated: July 2002
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