Maternal Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence and the Risk of Undernutrition Among Children Younger Than 5 Years in Bangladesh

We examined the association between maternal experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) and the risk of undernutrition among children younger than 5 years in Bangladesh. We used data from the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. Our analyses were based on the responses of 1851 married women living with at least 1 child younger than 5 years. Exposure was determined from maternal reports of physical and sexual IPV. Outcomes included underweight, stunting, and wasting. Twenty-nine percent of the respondents had experienced IPV in the year preceding the survey. Maternal experience of any physical or sexual IPV was associated with an increased risk of stunting (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =1.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] =1.23, 2.08) and underweight (AOR =1.33; 95% CI=1.04, 1.71) but was not significantly associated with wasting (AOR=1.08; 95% CI=0.78, 1.49). The association between maternal exposure to physical or sexual IPV and child underweight and stunting suggests that partner violence plays a significant role in compromising child health by impairing child nutrition. Our findings reinforce the evidence that improving child nutrition is an additional reason to strengthen efforts to protect women from physical and sexual IPV.