Sociodemographic characteristics of the study participants by survey year, BDHS 1999–2014
| Variables | 1999 | 2004 | 2007 | 2011 | 2014 | P values |
| Age, mean (SD) | 25.88 (6.63) | 30.56 (9.36) | 30.94 (9.3) | 31.23 (9.22) | 31.37 (9.12) | <0.001 |
| Age group, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| 15–24 | 2148 (47.05) | 3303 (31.82) | 2996 (30.29) | 4557 (28.72) | 4433 (27.04) | |
| 25–34 | 2007 (41.52) | 3533 (33.77) | 3344 (33.13) | 5603 (34.19) | 5969 (36.44) | |
| 35–44 | 486 (10.61) | 2598 (24.39) | 2747 (26.69) | 4321 (26.2) | 4435 (26.05) | |
| 45+ | 38 (0.81) | 1055 (10.02) | 1040 (9.89) | 1792 (10.89) | 1787 (10.47) | |
| Educational level, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| No education | 2002 (44.62) | 4158 (42.44) | 3326 (34.85) | 4386 (28.59) | 4039 (25.68) | |
| Primary | 1364 (29.14) | 3070 (29.07) | 3014 (29.67) | 4857 (30.04) | 4875 (29.24) | |
| Secondary | 1072 (22.05) | 2629 (23.52) | 2983 (29.52) | 5731 (34.3) | 6153 (36.76) | |
| Higher | 241 (4.19) | 632 (4.97) | 801 (5.96) | 1299 (7.07) | 1557 (8.32) | |
| Place of residence, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Urban | 1275 (17.76) | 3593 (22.58) | 3858 (22.81) | 5709 (26.1) | 5764 (28.41) | |
| Rural | 3404 (82.24) | 6896 (77.42) | 6269 (77.19) | 11 000 (73.9) | 11 000 (71.59) | |
| Geographical region, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Barishal | 434 (6.48) | 1252 (6.33) | 1327 (6.01) | 1819 (5.45) | 1982 (6.19) | |
| Chittagong | 937 (20.08) | 1869 (17.56) | 1775 (18.23) | 2616 (18) | 2639 (18.29) | |
| Dhaka | 1123 (31.05) | 2376 (31.27) | 2178 (31.5) | 2795 (32.18) | 2893 (34.96) | |
| Khulna | 760 (11.42) | 1583 (12.32) | 1589 (12.77) | 2488 (12.4) | 2460 (10.51) | |
| Rajshahi | 889 (24.48) | 2374 (26.35) | 1933 (25.31) | 4703 (26.73) | 4769 (23.56) | |
| Sylhet | 536 (6.49) | 1035 (6.17) | 1325 (6.18) | 1852 (5.25) | 1881 (6.49) | |
| Marital status, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Not married | 130 (2.71) | 859 (7.93) | 822 (7.7) | 1091 (6.6) | 1014 (5.95) | |
| Married | 4549 (97.29) | 9630 (92.07) | 9305 (92.3) | 15 000 (93.4) | 16 000 (94.05) | |
| Urban | ||||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | <0.001 | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 20.78 (4.51) | 21.52 (5.06) | 22.24 (5.44) | 23 (4.87) | 23.7 (5.06) | |
| BMI categories, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Underweight | 385 (29.74) | 903 (24.84) | 787 (19.54) | 879 (13.46) | 738 (12.21) | |
| Normal weight | 585 (45.65) | 1573 (44.47) | 1629 (41.73) | 2298 (41.4) | 1996 (34.73) | |
| Overweight | 237 (19.09) | 801 (21.87) | 1010 (26.88) | 1729 (30.62) | 1971 (33.74) | |
| Obese | 68 (5.53) | 316 (8.81) | 432 (11.85) | 803 (14.52) | 1059 (19.32) | |
| Overweight or obese | 305 (24.61) | 1117 (30.68) | 1442 (38.73) | 2532 (45.14) | 3030 (53.06) | |
| Rural | ||||||
| BMI, kg/m2 | <0.001 | |||||
| Mean (SD) | 18.97 (2.42) | 19.76 (2.72) | 20.18 (2.83) | 20.82 (3.29) | 21.71 (3.62) | |
| BMI categories, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Underweight | 1636 (48.19) | 2581 (36.9) | 2107 (32.45) | 2940 (27.83) | 2353 (21.09) | |
| Normal weight | 1560 (45.76) | 3422 (49.82) | 3135 (50.72) | 5138 (48.59) | 4926 (45.3) | |
| Overweight | 174 (5.03) | 762 (11.36) | 851 (13.88) | 1997 (18.97) | 2780 (26.24) | |
| Obese | 34 (1.02) | 131 (1.92) | 176 (2.96) | 489 (4.62) | 801 (7.38) | |
| Overweight or obese | 208 (6.05) | 893 (13.28) | 1027 (16.83) | 2486 (23.58) | 3581 (33.62) | |
| Wealth index, n (%) | 0.1665 | |||||
| Poorest | NA | 1865 (19.85) | 1636 (19.19) | 2811 (18.29) | 2999 (18.55) | |
| Poorer | NA | 1880 (19.92) | 1822 (19.35) | 2995 (19.47) | 3102 (18.95) | |
| Middle | NA | 1960 (19.77) | 1910 (19.72) | 3129 (20.07) | 3382 (20.04) | |
| Richer | NA | 2098 (20.38) | 2043 (20.85) | 3472 (20.83) | 3534 (21.21) | |
| Richest | NA | 2686 (20.08) | 2716 (20.88) | 3866 (21.34) | 3607 (21.24) | |
| Watch television (once a week), n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| No | 2946 (66.99) | 5459 (54.5) | 5138 (53.2) | 8149 (51.61) | 7997 (48.83) | |
| Yes | 1732 (33.01) | 5027 (45.5) | 4985 (46.8) | 8120 (48.39) | 8626 (51.17) | |
| Currently working, n (%) | ||||||
| No | 3839 (81.19) | 8098 (76.85) | 7068 (67.12) | 14 000 (86.62) | 11 000 (65.85) | |
| Yes | 840 (18.81) | 2390 (23.15) | 3055 (32.88) | 2216 (13.38) | 5398 (34.15) | |
| Number of living children, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| 0 | 67 (1.46) | 1017 (9.39) | 930 (8.78) | 1371 (8.53) | 1385 (7.96) | |
| 1–2 | 2669 (56.66) | 4590 (43.15) | 4769 (47.11) | 8236 (50.09) | 8857 (53.48) | |
| 3–4 | 1358 (29.25) | 3312 (32.45) | 3111 (31.61) | 5102 (31.64) | 5013 (30.45) | |
| >5 | 585 (12.63) | 1570 (15.01) | 1317 (12.5) | 1564 (9.74) | 1369 (8.11) | |
| Number of household member, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| 1–2 | 46 (1.03) | 382 (3.71) | 405 (4.11) | 694 (4.46) | 834 (5.27) | |
| 3–4 | 1208 (26.22) | 3079 (30.31) | 3171 (32.63) | 5633 (34.65) | 6224 (37.36) | |
| >5 | 3425 (72.75) | 7028 (65.99) | 6551 (63.25) | 9946 (60.89) | 9566 (57.36) | |
| Contraceptive use, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| Not using | 2060 (44.71) | 4422 (41.76) | 4555 (44.02) | 6260 (38.76) | 6227 (37.19) | |
| Pills | 1352 (2.904) | 2641 (2.606) | 2734 (2.835) | 4385 (2.725) | 4476 (2.717) | |
| Other | 1267 (26.25) | 3426 (32.18) | 2838 (27.63) | 5628 (33.99) | 5921 (35.64) | |
| Husband’s education, n (%) | <0.001 | |||||
| No education | 1851 (42.48) | 3818 (39.16) | 3342 (35.92) | 4833 (31.73) | 4764 (29.5) | |
| Primary | 1102 (24.24) | 2629 (25.34) | 2610 (25.78) | 4362 (26.89) | 4503 (27.1) | |
| Secondary | 1098 (23.05) | 2691 (24.43) | 2660 (25.94) | 4680 (27.93) | 4884 (29.71) | |
| Higher | 549 (10.23) | 1342 (11.07) | 1501 (12.37) | 2390 (13.46) | 2471 (13.69) | |
BDHS, Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey; BMI, body mass index; NA, not available.