Factors associated with physical punishment of 1–4-year-old children in bangladesh: a cross-sectional study

• The prevalence of physical punishment among children aged 1–4 years in Bangladesh was 73.2%, which is higher than in neighboring countries. • Children aged 2–4 years and male children were significantly more likely to inflict physical punishment compared to 1-year-olds and female children respectively. • Mothers/caregivers with lower education levels, those who believed child punishment was necessary, and those who accepted domestic violence were more likely to use physical punishment on their children. • Mothers/caregivers who reported being unhappy and those whose life satisfaction had not improved compared to the previous year were more likely to use physical punishment. Physical punishment is a form of maltreatment that negatively affects the physical and mental health of children. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of physical punishment and its associated factors among children aged 1–4 years in Bangladesh. This study included 13,144 children aged 1–4 years and their mothers/caregivers. Data from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey were analyzed. Physical punishment was defined as the use of at least one of six types of physical punishment. Sociodemographic characteristics of children and their mothers/caregivers, mothers’/caregivers’ happiness, life satisfaction, attitudes toward the necessity of child punishment, and domestic violence by husbands to their wives were examined. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to estimate the adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. This study found that physical punishment was inflicted on 73.2% of children aged 1–4 years. Of all mothers/caregivers, 35.2% believed that child punishment was necessary, whereas 6.3–22.1% accepted domestic violence by their husbands. Factors associated with physical punishment were children’s age ≥ 2 years old (than 1 year old), male children, second wealth index quintile (than wealthiest), mothers’/caregivers’ age ≥ 30 years, low educational level of mothers/caregivers (no or pre-primary education and primary education than higher secondary education or higher), mothers/caregivers with four or more births, mothers’/caregivers’ unhappiness and no improvement in life satisfaction, mothers’/caregivers’ perception of the necessity of child punishment, and mothers’/caregivers’ attitudes toward domestic violence in case of argument with husbands. Current child protection programs should be strengthened, and education on child discipline should be provided to both men and women.