Table 4.

Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of acute malnutrition among under-five children based on sociodemographic and household characteristics

Variables	Unadjusted				Adjusted a
	OR	(95% CI)	p-value		OR	(95% CI)	p-value
Education level of household head
With education b	1	Reference			1	Reference
No education	1.86	(1.32–2.62)	<0.001		1.49	(1.02–2.17)	0.038
Age of household head
> 25 years	1	Reference			1	Reference
≤ 25 years	2.00	(1.24–3.22)	0.005		2.01	(1.21–3.35)	0.007
Monthly income of household
> 250 USD c	1	Reference			1	Reference
≤ 250 USD	2.19	(1.41–3.40)	0.001		1.66	(1.04–2.27)	0.034
Number of children in the household
≤ 3 children	1	Reference			1	Reference
> 3 children	1.44	(1.01–2.05)	0.044		1.24	(0.85–1.80)	0.272
Education level of mother
With education b	1	Reference			1	Reference
No education	2.34	(1.11–4.96)	0.026		2.21	(1.00–4.88)	0.049
Nutrition status of mother
Normal	1	Reference			1	Reference
Moderate acute malnutrition d	1.32	(0.91–1.92)	0.149		1.03	(0.69–1.55)	0.877
Age category of children
≥ 24 months	1	Reference			1	Reference
< 24 months	2.40	(1.69–3.41)	<0.001		1.99	(1.32–2.93)	0.001
Diarrhea of child in last two weeks
No	1	Reference			1	Reference
Yes	1.84	(1.31–2.59)	<0.001		1.57	(1.10–2.27)	0.014
24-hour feeding frequency of child
≥ 4 times	1	Reference			1	Reference
≤ 3 times	3.93	(1.65–9.34)	0.002		3.01	(1.21–7.46)	0.017
Child ever breastfed
Yes	1	Reference			1	Reference
No	2.30	(1.40–3.77)	0.001		1.06	(0.60–1.88)	0.850

^a Adjusted for education level of heads of household, monthly income of households, age category of heads of household, number of under-five children in the households, education level of mothers, nutrition status of mothers, age category of children, diarrhea among children, frequency of child feeding, and children ever breastfed.

^b Primary or higher education

^c Households which have ≤ 250 USD monthly income are recognized as low income according to the Afghanistan tax law.

^d MUAC is <23cm