Malnutrition trends in Rohingya children aged 6–59 months residing in informal settlements in Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh: An analysis of cross-sectional, population-representative surveys

Background: More than 700,000 ethnic Rohingya have crossed the border from Rakhine State, Myanmar to Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, following escalated violence by Myanmar security forces. The majority of these displaced Rohingya settled in informal sites on previously forested land, in areas without basic infrastructure or access to services. Methods and findings: Three cross-sectional population-representative cluster surveys were conducted, including all informal settlements of Rohingya refugees in the Ukhia and Teknaf Upazilas of Cox’s Bazar District. The first survey was conducted during the acute phase of the humanitarian response (October–November 2017), and the second and third surveys were conducted 6 (April–May 2018) and 12 (October–November 2018) months later. Anthropometric indices (weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference [MUAC], oedema) and haemoglobin (Hb) were measured in children aged 6–59 months following standard procedures. Final samples for survey rounds 1, 2, and 3 (R1, R2, and R3) included 1,113, 628, and 683 children, respectively, of which approximately half were male (50.7%–53.5% per round) and a third were 6–23 months of age (32.4%–33.3% per round). Prevalence of global acute malnutrition (GAM) as assessed by weight for height in R2 (12.1%, 95% CI: 9.6–15.1) and R3 (11.0%, 95% CI: 8.4–14.2) represent a significant decline from the observed prevalence in R1 (19.4%, 95% CI: 16.8–22.3) (p