Table 1.
Weighted sample descriptive statistics
| Children | Mothers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % or Mean | se (B) | % or Mean | se (B) | |
| Overweight† | 20·77 | 28·57 | ||
| Mother's education | ||||
| No schooling | 36·23 | 36·33 | ||
| Primary | 33·01 | 32·79 | ||
| Secondary | 24·95 | 25·00 | ||
| Post-secondary | 5·81 | 5·88 | ||
| Child is male | 50·87 | |||
| Age (years)‡ | 2·96 | 0·00 | 29·73 | 0·02 |
| Age of youngest child in household (months)‡ | 38·71 | 0·02 | 39·50 | 0·03 |
| Married mother | 79·16 | 78·91 | ||
| Urban residence | 36·25 | 36·32 | ||
| Log of gross national income‡§ | 7·61 | 0·00 | 7·60 | 0·00 |
| Year‡ | 2001·37 | 0·01 | 2001·37 | 0·01 |
| Sample size | 253 442 | 228 655 | ||
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys; Mexican Family Life Survey; China Health and Nutrition Survey.
Sample: Children aged 2–4 years and their mothers in thirty-three less developed countries between 1990 and 2008. Countries had a minimum of two surveys at least 3 years apart with the most recent survey in the 2000s.
†Child's overweight is based on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention age- and sex-standardized growth charts. A percentile BMI at or above the 85th percentile is coded as overweight. Mother's overweight is defined as BMI ≥ 25·0 kg/m2.
‡Values are presented as mean.
§Gross national income is measured per capita in constant year 2000 $US values and adjusted for purchasing power parity. The measure is log-transformed.