About 1.7 crore married women aged between 15 and 49 are suffering from malnutrition in Bangladesh. 

A portion of them are underweight, which means their weight is less than required. The other part is overweight i.e. who weigh more than the ideal weight. 

Earlier the number of women who are underweight was high, now number of overweight people has increased - both are issues related to malnutrition. 

The nutritional situation of the women in Bangladesh was revealed by icddr,b on Tuesday morning at an event titled "The double burden of malnutrition among Bangladeshi women".

The event was organised by icddr'b, US donor agency USAID and Data for Impact.

It was informed at the event that the number of women aged 15 to 49 years - who have been married at least once - in the country is 3 crore 80 lakh. Among them, 50 lakh women are underweight whereas 1 crore 2o lakh are overweight.

This means that 45% of women in that age group are malnourished.

Analysing the demographic, health and nutrition data from 2007 to 2017, researchers say underweight malnutrition among married women in Bangladesh has decreased significantly. 

In 2007 it was 30%, which decreased to 12% in 2017-18. On the other hand, in 2007, about 12% of women in that age group were obese which increased to 32% in 2017-18. 

In other words, there has been no improvement in overall nutritional situation in the span of 10 years.

Undernutrition has been or is being emphasised in health and nutrition policies, plans or projects, according to the programme.

However, the problem of overweight among women in Bangladesh is becoming evident day by day. Not much attention is paid to this issue. Now is the time to focus on this problem, said speakers at the event.