Name of variable	Measure
Outcome (dependent) variables
Child stunted	Coded as: 1 = if the child has a height-for-age Z score less than −2 standard deviations relative to the WHO reference standard; and 0 = otherwise. This measures chronic undernutrition
Child wasted	Coded as: 1 = if the child has a height-for-weight Z score less than −2 standard deviations relative to the WHO reference standard; and 0 = otherwise. This measures acute undernutrition.
Child underweight	Coded as: 1 = if the child has a weight-for-age Z score less than −2 standard deviations relative to the WHO reference standard; and 0 = otherwise. This measures general undernutrition
Explanatory (independent) variables
Parental survival and HIV status
HIV status of adult household members (Ref = none positive)	Dummy variables for HIV status of adult household members, classified into three categories: none positive, mother positive, other adult household members positive.
Paternal orphan (Ref = no)	Coded as: 1 = if the child is a paternal orphan; 0 = otherwise
Child-level covariates
Age of child (Ref = less than 1 year)	Dummy variables for age of child in completed years, classified into five categories: less than 1 year, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years.
Sex of child (Ref = male)	Dichotomous variable for sex of child, coded as 1 if the child is female, and 0 if the child is male.
Birth order of child (Ref = fifth+)	Dummy variables for birth order of child, classified into five categories: first birth, second, third, fourth and fifth+.
Multiple births (Ref = singleton)	Dichotomous variable for type of birth, coded as: 1 for multiple or twin births, and 0 for singletons.
Birth interval (Ref = upto 24 months)	Dummy variables for preceding birth interval, classified into four categories: upto 24 months, 25–36 months, more than 36 months and first birth.
Duration of breastfeeding (Ref = never breastfed)	Dummy variables for duration of breastfeeding, classified into three categories: never breastfed, upto 6 months, more than 6 months.
Size of child at birth (Ref = small)	Dummy variables for reported size of child at birth, classified into three categories: small, average and large. This is used as a proxy for birth weight since data on birth weight is missing for a significant proportion of children born at home.
Mother and household covariates
Mother’s age group (Ref = 15–19)	Dummy variables for five-year age groups of child’s mother, classified into five categories: 15–19, 20–24, 25–29, 30–34, 35+.
Mother’s marital status (ref = married)	Dichotomous variable for mother’s current marital status, coded as 1 if single; 0 if married/partnered.
Mother’s education level (Ref = none)	Dummy variables for mother’s highest educational attainment classified into three categories: none, primary, secondary.
Residence (Ref = urban)	Dichotomous variable for current place of residence, coded as 1 = if respondent was living in a rural area at the time of the survey; 0 = otherwise.
Wealth quintile (Ref: poorest)	DHS household wealth indexa derived from information on household possessions and amenities using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). The PCA scores are classified into wealth quintiles, the lowest quintile being the poorest.
Contextual variables
Community/cluster level
HIV prevalence	Percent of men and women of reproductive age in the community/cluster infected with HIV, derived from individual-level information. This is re-scaled so that one unit represents 10 percentage points.
Orphanhood prevalence	Proportion of children in the community/cluster who are orphans, derived from child-level information.
Community/cluster wealth index	Average wealth index of households in the community/cluster, derived from DHS household wealth index.
Country level
HIV prevalence	Percent of men and women of reproductive age in the country infected with HIV, derived from individual-level information. This is re-scaled so that one unit represents 10 percentage points.
Orphanhood prevalence	Proportion of children in the country who are orphans, derived from child-level information.
Wealth	GDP per capita for country - estimates for year of survey obtained from the World Bank Development Indicators databaseb.

^aRutstein and Johnston (2004). The DHS Wealth Index. DHS Comparative Reports No.6. ORC Macro, Calverton, Maryland USA.

^bSource: World Bank Development Indicators database – GDP estimates for respective survey years.http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?page=1(last updated April 2011).