Table 1.

Definitions of modifiable risk factors for diarrhoea and acute respiratory tract infections among children under five in sub-Saharan Africa.

Modifiable risk factors	Definitions
Child factors
Perceived birth size	Perceived birth size was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘Below average birth size’, or ‘2’ = ‘average and above birth size’.
Early initiation of breastfeeding (EIBF)	EIBF was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘initiated breastfeeding within 1 h of birth’, or ‘2’ = ‘Not initiated breastfeeding within 1 h of birth’
Duration of breastfeeding	Grouped as ‘1’ = ‘less than 12 months’ or ‘2’ = ‘12 months or more’
Maternal factors
Maternal body mass index (BMI)	BMI was calculated as a woman’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of her height in meters (kg/m2). For this study, BMI was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2)’, ‘2’ = ‘normal weight (BMI ≥ 18.5 kg/m2 and BMI ≤ 24.9 kg/m2)’, or ‘3’ = ‘overweight or obese (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2)’
Maternal education	Maternal education was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘no schooling’, ‘2’ = ‘primary education’, or ‘3’ = ‘secondary education or higher’.
Maternal employment	Maternal employment status was grouped as “not working” or “working”
Frequency of antenatal care (ANC) visits	Frequency of ANC visits was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘none’, ‘2’ = ‘1–4 visits’, or ‘3’ = ‘four and above visits’
Place of birth	Place of birth was grouped as ‘home ‘or ‘health facility birth’
Household factors
Household wealth index	Household wealth index was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘poor’, ‘2’ = ‘middle’, or ‘3’ = ‘rich’
Source of drinking water and type of toilet facility	The source of drinking water and type of toilet facility were grouped as ‘1’ = ‘improved’ or ‘2’ = ‘not improved’
Type of cooking fuel	Type of cooking fuel was grouped as ‘1’ = ‘cleaned’ or ‘2’ = ‘not cleaned’