Mental disorders among children associated with malnutrition: Study

Psychiatric disorders among children are associated with malnutrition, low education of fathers and a family history of mental illness, says a recent ICDDR,B study, reports UNB.

It showed that behavioral disorders were most common among children, but psychiatric disorders were also reported among socially disadvantaged children, such as those living in urban slums in Bangladesh.

On mental disorders among children in Bangladesh, the study reveals that the prevalence of mental disorders is estimated between 3.4 and 22.9 per cent.

The new systematic review, led by ICDDR,B investigators, examines the current prevalence and trends in the rates of mental health disorders in Bangladesh in order to bridge the knowledge gaps and to point the way towards addressing the burden associated with these conditions.

The study was conducted by ICDDR,B in association with the National Institutes of Mental Health, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK, and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.

The authors collected and evaluated literature on prevalence of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, psychiatric and behavioral disorders.

They focused on published articles that presented quantitative data and were published in English between 1975 and October 2013.