Poverty taking toll on slum children

With no work for two months now, domestic help Bibi Rupban has been struggling to feed her five children three meals a day. Her husband, a rickshaw-puller, can hardly scrounge up enough for the family to live on.

In their small shanty in a Mirpur slum, Rupban now feeds her children two times a day and gives them more water to fill up on so they do not feel as hungry, she said.

The parents cannot also afford to grant their children's small wishes as before -- a few takas of pocket money to buy sweets, ice-creams, and roadside snacks.

"What can I do? The rice and other things we got as aid was finished within a week. I have been compelled to give my children less food… I can't afford it," Rupban told The Daily Star.

She now borrows money from neighbours to buy food for her children.

Without adequate food and stuck at home with nothing to do, the children have grown more obstinate and aggressive, said Rupban, expressing her helplessness.

In the coronavirus-caused shutdown for over two months and in the days afterwards, such low-income families have struggled to give their young children a balanced diet and proper nurture.

Health experts say this will lead to long-lasting impact on the children's physical and psychological growth.

According to the World Food Programme, stunting -- a condition resulting from poor nutrition and with negative effects on children's physical growth and cognitive development -- affects 36 percent of children under five in the country and peaks at 50 percent among the poorest and those living in the slums.

Visiting other such informal settlements in the capital, these correspondents found others in a similar state to Rupban's family.

In Bhasantek slum, construction worker Babul has been taking sole care of his 10-year-old daughter since his wife left the family six months ago.

Out of work since the shutdown began, Babul can't afford to feed his daughter every day. While initially reluctant to step out onto the streets to seek help, he said, poverty forced him to ask for alms from passers-by.

People didn't particularly stop to help him, Babul said, as he looks fit enough to work and tended to give more to the elderly and the disabled.

"I went out seven days last week. I only got food on two days and gave it to my daughter," he said. Those two days were the only days when his daughter was able to eat well that week.

Rickshaw-puller Reza, who lives in Jheelpar slum, would earlier buy milk every day to take home to his six-year-old daughter -- he knew it was important for her growth and development.

Without income, Reza can no longer afford milk for his daughter and feels guilty that he is depriving his daughter of essential nutrition.

"The relief the government and NGO provided is not enough. Where else will I seek money? My neighbours are poor too," said Reza.

Dietician and nutritionist Farzana Ahmed said most children in these settlements usually suffer from malnutrition year-round as their families cannot afford to provide them with a balanced diet.

"Due to the shutdown, this problem may intensify. Eating less and low-quality food will hamper their physical and mental growth."

For example, the development of children's immune systems will likely be hampered and they will not flourish intellectually, said Farzana.

Such experiences of hunger, malnutrition and boredom among children living in poverty will have a negative impact as they may increasingly adopt aggressive and violent behaviour, said Dr Muntasir Maruf, assistant professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Currently, these children are barred or discouraged from social interactions and playing sports and other physical activities outside the home. This situation is forcing them into a life of monotony, he said, which could lead to children between 12 and 15 years especially engaging in arguments and fights with their parents and guardians.

"These children may also experience depression or engage in anti-social activities," he said.