Table 2. Duration of exclusive breastfeeding and prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight in 6-month-old infants as determined using WHO child growth standards and the NCHS growth reference, Ghana, India and Peru, 1995–1997.
| Malnutrition indicator | Infants who received exclusive breastfeeding; n (%) |
Unadjusted P-value | Adjusted P-valuea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 10 weeks | 10 to < 18 weeks | ≥ 18 weeks | |||||
| WHO child growth standards | |||||||
| Ghanab | 1967 | 274 | 163 | ||||
| Stunted | 364 (18.5) | 42 (15.3) | 25 (15.3) | 0.144 | 0.481 | ||
| Wasted | 139 (7.1) | 16 (5.8) | 7 (4.3) | 0.135 | 0.268 | ||
| Underweight | 362 (18.4) | 37 (13.5) | 21 (12.9) | 0.015* | 0.057 | ||
| Indiac | 2870 | 408 | 185 | ||||
| Stunted | 1048 (36.6) | 138 (33.8) | 60 (32.4) | 0.132 | 0.421 | ||
| Wasted | 415 (14.5) | 65 (15.9) | 14 (7.6) | 0.096 | 0.152 | ||
| Underweight | 1119 (39.0) | 155 (38.0) | 58 (31.4) | 0.063 | 0.139 | ||
| Perud | 882 | 383 | 821 | ||||
| Stunted | 75 (8.5) | 29 (7.6) | 48 (5.9) | 0.035* | 0.424 | ||
| Wasted | 13 (1.5) | 2 (0.5) | 1 (0.1) | 0.006* | 0.031* | ||
| Underweight | 31 (3.5) | 7 (1.8) | 8 (1.0) | 0.001* | 0.052 | ||
| NCHS growth reference | |||||||
| Ghanab | 1967 | 274 | 163 | ||||
| Stunted | 218 (11.1) | 22 (8.0) | 12 (7.4) | 0.049* | 0.210 | ||
| Wasted | 14 (0.7) | 2 (0.7) | 2 (1.2) | 0.535 | 0.312 | ||
| Underweight | 180 (9.2) | 20 (7.3) | 9 (5.5) | 0.073 | 0.269 | ||
| Indiac | 2870 | 408 | 185 | ||||
| Stunted | 730 (25.5) | 97 (23.8) | 41 (22.2) | 0.224 | 0.733 | ||
| Wasted | 78 (2.7) | 8 (2.0) | 3 (2.6) | 0.225 | 0.266 | ||
| Underweight | 688 (24.0) | 94 (23.0) | 28 (15.1) | 0.016* | 0.045* | ||
| Perud | 882 | 383 | 821 | ||||
| Stunted | 36 (4.1) | 14 (3.7) | 26 (3.2) | 0.311 | 0.192 | ||
| Wasted | 2 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0.13 | – | ||
| Underweight | 14 (1.6) | 2 (0.5) | 4 (0.5) | 0.026* | 0.268 | ||
* P < 0.05. NCHS, National Center for Health Statistics; WHO, World Health Organization. a Adjusted for mother’s education, previous child deaths, birth order, infant’s sex, multiple or single birth, and infant’s age and weight at enrolment. b Stunting could not be assessed for 2 infants and wasting could not be assessed for 4 infants in Ghana. c Stunting could not be assessed for 8 infants and wasting could not be assessed for 8 infants in India. d Stunting could not be assessed for 6 infants and wasting could not be assessed for 6 infants in Peru.