Table 1.
Distribution of determinants of child nutritional health: Tunisia Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys for the years 2011–2012, 2017–2018, and 2022–2023.
| Years 2011–2012 (n = 1271) | Years 2017–2018 (n = 1337) | Years 2022–2023 (n = 657) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Area of residence | Total n (%) | Total n (%) | Total n (%) |
| Urban | 808 (63.56) | 831 (62.15) | 366 (55.77) |
| Rural | 463 (36.44) | 506 (37.85) | 291 (44.23) |
| Wealth Index | |||
| Poorest | 344 (27.06) | 278 (20.79) | 116 (17.6) |
| Poorer | 295 (23.2) | 175 (13.12) | 191 (29.13) |
| Middle | 245 (19.26) | 257 (19.24) | 143 (21.73) |
| Fourth | 160 (12.6) | 391 (29.23) | 88 (13.4) |
| Richest | 227 (17.88) | 235 (17.61) | 119 (18.13) |
| Sex of baby | |||
| Boy | 678 (53.37) | 726 (54.33) | 352 (53.64) |
| Girl | 592 (46.63) | 610 (45.67) | 305 (46.36) |
| Child age (months) | |||
| 0–5 | 337 (26.49) | 316 (23.65) | 150 (22.77) |
| 6–11 | 330 (25.99) | 321 (24.02) | 147 (22.36) |
| 12–17 | 302 (23.76) | 338 (25.26) | 166 (25.29) |
| 18–23 | 302 (23.76) | 362 (27.08) | 194 (29.58) |
| Mother’s age (years) | |||
| 15–34 | 938 (74.05) | 901 (67.88) | 391 (60.99) |
| 35–49 | 329 (25.95) | 426 (32.12) | 250 (39.01) |
| Father’s age (years) | |||
| 18–34 | 380 (33.11) | 374 (30.4) | 172 (28.04) |
| 35–44 | 598 (52.1) | 656 (53.3) | 320 (52.28) |
| 45+ | 170 (14.79) | 201 (16.3) | 121 (19.68) |
| Mother’s age at marriage (years) | |||
| ≤18 years | 44 (3.79) | 32 (2.55) | 27 (4.33) |
| >18 years | 1118 (96.21) | 1207 (97.45) | 590 (95.67) |
| Marital status | |||
| Married | 1148 (90.69) | 1231 (92.73) | 613 (95.45) |
| Not married | 118 (9.31) | 96 (7.27) | 29 (4.55) |
| Maternal education | |||
| Secondary and above | 771 (60.91) | 973 (73.29) | 188 (30.51) |
| Primary | 354 (27.93) | 275 (20.73) | 339 (55.18) |
| No education | 141 (11.16) | 79 (5.98) | 88 (14.31) |
| Father education | |||
| Secondary and above | 751 (59.12) | 950 (71.1) | 193 (31.09) |
| Primary | 370 (29.9) | 288 (21.58) | 334 (53.82) |
| No education | 150 (11.8) | 98 (7.33) | 94 (15.09) |
| Maternal BMI (kgm−2) | |||
| ≤18.5 | 750 (64.12) | 878 (66.71) | 390 (65.1) |
| 19–25 | 380 (32.52) | 419 (31.84) | 182 (30.34) |
| 25+ | 39 (3.37) | 19 (1.45) | 27 (4.56) |
| Household members | |||
| 1–3 | 311 (24.45) | 650 (48.65) | 116 (17.67) |
| 4–8 | 855 (67.31) | 677 (50.67) | 506 (76.97) |
| >8 | 105 (8.24) | 9 (0.68) | 35 (5.36) |
| Birth order | |||
| None previous | 474 (37.28) | 770 (57.6) | 352 (53.51) |
| 1 | 601 (47.3) | 354 (26.52) | 205 (31.19) |
| 2 or more | 196 (15.43) | 212 (15.88) | 101 (15.31) |
| Cooking fuel | |||
| Clean | 1270 (99.91) | 1333 (99.84) | 656 (99.83) |
| Unclean | 1 (0.09) | 2 (0.16) | 1 (0.17) |
| Source of drinking water | |||
| Protected | 497 (62.74) | 725 (54.23) | 354 (53.9) |
| Unprotected | 474 (37.26) | 612 (45.77) | 303 (46.1) |
| Toilet facility | |||
| Improved | 784 (61.72) | 555 (41.53) | 298 (45.32) |
| Unimproved | 486 (38.28) | 781 (58.47) | 359 (54.68) |
| Listening to the radio | |||
| Not at all | 569 (44.9) | 722 (54.38) | 319 (49.78) |
| Yes | 698 (55.1) | 606 (45.62) | 321 (50.22) |
| Watching TV | |||
| Not at all | 22 (1.72) | 3 (2.33) | 31 (4.91) |
| Yes | 1245 (98.28) | 1296 (97.67) | 609 (95.09) |
| Reading newspaper | |||
| Not at all | 464 (42.9) | 105 (79.2) | 523 (81.57) |
| Yes | 617 (57.1) | 276 (20.8) | 118 (18.43) |
| Size of baby | |||
| Average | 824 (72.69) | 852 (69.85) | 418 (68.63) |
| Small | 161 (14.23) | 154 (12.65) | 94 (15.4) |
| Large | 148 (13.08) | 213 (17.5) | 97 (15.97) |
| Diarrhoea last two weeks | |||
| No | 1115 (87.85) | 1173 (87.8) | 600 (92.03) |
| Yes | 154 (12.15) | 163 (12.2) | 52 (7.97) |
| Fever | |||
| No | 265 (20.83) | 1025 (76.82) | 542 (82.75) |
| Yes | 1006 (79.17) | 309 (23.18) | 113 (17.25) |
| Cough | |||
| No | 682 (53.74) | 934 (69.91) | 492 (75.18) |
| Yes | 587 (46.26) | 402 (30.09) | 163 (24.82) |
| Any infection | |||
| No | 137 (10.8) | 762 (57.03) | 444 (67.63) |
| Yes | 1134 (89.2) | 574 (42.97) | 213 (32.37) |
| Place of delivery | |||
| Government | 345 (27.14) | 1217 (99.73) | 604 (98.85) |
| Non-government | 926 (72.86) | 3 (0.27) | 7 (1.15) |
| Antenatal clinic visits | |||
| 8+ | 391 (30.78) | 304 (22.72) | 165 (25.26) |
| 4–7 | 571 (44.92) | 723 (54.06) | 315 (48.15) |
| 1–3 | 142 (11.18) | 139 (10.43) | 79 (12.06) |
| None | 167 (13.12) | 171 (12.79) | 95 (14.53) |
| Delivery assistance | |||
| Skilled | 831 (65.4) | 1215 (90.92) | 601 (91.48) |
| Unskilled | 440 (34.6) | 121 (9.08) | 56 (8.52) |
| Mode of delivery | |||
| Non-caesarean | 16 (1.41) | 683 (56.12) | 325 (54.05) |
| Caesarean | 1113 (98.59) | 534 (43.88) | 276 (45.95) |
| Postnatal checkup (days) | |||
| 0–2 | 38 (3.02) | 180 (13.45) | 125 (18.98) |
| After 2 | 360 (28.32) | 206 (15.38) | 83 (12.65) |
| No | 872 (68.66) | 951 (71.17) | 449 (68.36) |
| Early initiation of breastfeeding | |||
| After 1 h | 753 (59.26) | 858 (64.23) | 411 (62.49) |
| Within 1 h | 518 (40.74) | 478 (35.77) | 246 (37.51) |
| Ever breastfeed | |||
| Yes | 555 (43.66) | 1135 (84.9) | 561 (85.39) |
| No | 716 (56.34) | 202 (15.1) | 96 (14.61) |
| Duration of breastfeeding (months) | |||
| Up to 12 | 317 (24.95) | 564 (42.21) | 280 (42.56) |
| >12 | 954 (75.05) | 772 (57.79) | 377 (57.44) |
| Literacy | |||
| Yes | 309 (62.6) | 223 (17.85) | 346 (56.47) |
| No | 184 (37.4) | 1026 (82.15) | 266 (43.53) |