Table 4.
Average weight-for-age and height-for-age for selected variables
| Weight-for-age z-score | Height-for-age z-score | |||||
| 1991 | 1998 | Change | 1991 | 1998 | Change | |
| Household Economic status | ||||||
| 1st quintile | -1.03 | -1.20 | -0.17 | -1.26 | -1.47 | -0.21 |
| 2nd quintile | -0.71 | -0.91 | -0.20 | -1.02 | -1.16 | -0.14 |
| 3rd quintile | -0.94 | -0.96 | -0.02 | -1.35 | -1.27 | 0.08 |
| 4th quintile | -0.51 | -0.62 | -0.11 | -0.95 | -0.97 | -0.02 |
| 5th quintile | -0.42 | -0.35 | 0.07 | -0.68 | -0.75 | -0.07 |
| MHSB | ||||||
| 1st quintile | -1.31 | -1.34 | -0.03 | -1.38 | -1.54 | -0.16 |
| 2nd quintile | -0.83 | -0.92 | -0.09 | -1.05 | -1.12 | -0.07 |
| 3rd quintile | -0.66 | -0.76 | -0.10 | -1.11 | -1.22 | -0.11 |
| 4th quintile | -0.64 | -0.58 | 0.06 | -0.94 | -0.92 | 0.02 |
| 5th quintile | -0.36 | -0.47 | -0.11 | -0.84 | -0.84 | 0 |
| Household environment | ||||||
| Water | ||||||
| Poor | -0.88 | -0.94 | -0.06 | -1.20 | -1.23 | -0.03 |
| Medium | -0.56 | -0.71 | -0.15 | -0.91 | -1.01 | -0.10 |
| Good | -0.24 | -0.38 | -0.14 | -0.60 | -0.84 | -0.24** |
| Sanitation | ||||||
| Poor | -0.88 | -0.94 | -0.06 | -1.20 | -1.24 | -0.04 |
| Medium | -0.39 | -0.13 | 0.26 | -0.68 | -0.51 | 0.17 |
| Good | -0.50 | -0.58 | -0.08 | -0.84 | -0.90 | -0.06 |
| Cooking fuel | ||||||
| Poor | -0.25 | -0.55 | -0.30* | -0.82 | -0.88 | -0.06 |
| Good | -0.82 | -0.94 | -0.12** | -1.15 | -1.24 | -0.09** |
| Maternal education | ||||||
| No education | -1.08 | -1.35 | -0.27** | -1.28 | -1.48 | -0.20 |
| Primary | -0.57 | -0.65 | -0.08 | -1.01 | -1.06 | -0.05 |
| Secondary or + | -0.38 | -0.45 | -0.07 | -0.71 | -0.84 | -0.13 |
| Child sex | ||||||
| Male | -0.71 | -0.91 | -0.20** | -1.03 | -1.21 | -0.18** |
| Female | -0.70 | -0.76 | -0.06 | -1.04 | -1.08 | -0.04 |
| Child age (months) | ||||||
| 0–5 | 0.43 | 0.45 | 0.02 | -0.02 | -0.07 | -0.05 |
| 6–11 | -0.65 | -0.80 | -0.15 | -0.75 | -0.64 | 0.11 |
| 12–23 | -1.16 | -1.35 | -0.19** | -1.42 | -1.69 | -0.27** |
| 24–35 | -0.91 | -1.09 | -0.18** | -1.43 | -1.51 | -0.08 |
| Place of residence | ||||||
| Yaounde/Douala | -0.16 | -0.31 | -0.15 | -0.57 | -0.75 | -0.18 |
| Intermediate cities | -0.71 | -0.73 | -0.02 | -1.00 | -1.01 | -0.01 |
| Rural (reference) | -0.82 | -0.91 | -0.09 | -1.15 | -1.22 | -0.07 |
| Region | ||||||
| West/Littoral | -0.35 | -0.37 | -0.02 | -0.96 | -0.96 | 0.0 |
| North-West/South-West | -0.45 | -0.44 | 0.01 | -1.10 | -0.94 | 0.16 |
| Center/South/East | -0.83 | -0.82 | 0.01 | -1.01 | -1.12 | -0.11 |
| Adamaoua/North/Far-North | -1.17 | -1.29 | -0.12 | -1.25 | -1.40 | -0.15 |
-Statistical significance of change: *: P < 0.10; **: p < 0.05; ***: p < 0.001
-Gradient in weight-for-age and height for age z-scores for each independent variable shown in the table was statistically significant at 0.001.