Table 1.
Characteristics of children under 5 years of age and their mothers in the SMI, 2011–2013
| Guatemala (N = 4,100) | Mexico (N = 4,710) | Nicaragua (N = 1,312) | Panama (N = 913) | El Salvador (N = 3,465) | P* | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | % | 95% CI | ||
| Child's age (months) | 0.027 | ||||||||||
| 0–5 | 10.6 | 9.5–11.7 | 9.4 | 8.5–10.4 | 9.4 | 7.7–11.6 | 11.4 | 9.6–13.5 | 8.4 | 7.4–9.6 | |
| 6–11 | 11.1 | 10.3–12.0 | 10.0 | 9.2–10.8 | 12.2 | 10.6–14.1 | 10.5 | 8.6–12.9 | 9.4 | 8.3–10.7 | |
| 12–23 | 21.6 | 20.4–22.9 | 20.6 | 19.4–21.8 | 21.9 | 19.6–24.3 | 21.2 | 19.0–23.6 | 22.7 | 21.2–24.3 | |
| 24–35 | 21.4 | 20.0–22.9 | 19.9 | 18.8–21.1 | 19.3 | 17.4–21.5 | 21.7 | 19.8–23.8 | 21.2 | 19.8–22.8 | |
| 36–47 | 19.8 | 18.6–21.1 | 21.4 | 20.2–22.7 | 18.9 | 16.7–21.2 | 20.8 | 17.9–24.0 | 20.2 | 18.9–21.6 | |
| 48–59 | 15.4 | 14.3–16.6 | 18.8 | 17.7–19.9 | 18.2 | 16.3–20.4 | 14.4 | 12.1–16.9 | 18.1 | 16.8–19.4 | |
| Child's sex | 0.722 | ||||||||||
| Male | 50.0 | 48.3–51.6 | 49.8 | 48.1–51.4 | 50.0 | 47.1–52.9 | 48.0 | 44.8–51.2 | 48.0 | 46.3–49.7 | |
| Female | 50.0 | 48.4–51.7 | 50.2 | 48.6–51.9 | 50.0 | 47.1–52.9 | 52.0 | 48.8–55.2 | 52.0 | 50.3–53.7 | |
| Firstborn child | 20.5 | 18.8–22.3 | 16.6 | 14.9–18.4 | 28.5 | 25.3–32.1 | 12.9 | 10.5–15.7 | 29.1 | 26.9–31.4 | < 0.001 |
| Indigenous ethnicity | 80.0 | 74.2–84.8 | 70.1 | 63.4–76.1 | 11.0 | 4.6–24.1 | 0.0 | – | 0.0 | – | < 0.001 |
| Mother's age (years) | 0.013 | ||||||||||
| 15–24 | 34.2 | 32.2–36.3 | 35.9 | 33.7–38.1 | 40.8 | 36.9–44.7 | 38.2 | 34.9–41.6 | 38.6 | 36.0–41.4 | |
| 25–34 | 45.5 | 43.4–47.5 | 45.7 | 43.5–47.9 | 40.0 | 36.3–43.8 | 37.9 | 33.9–42.1 | 40.9 | 38.6–43.4 | |
| 35–49 | 20.3 | 18.6–22.1 | 18.4 | 16.6–20.3 | 19.2 | 16.6–22.1 | 23.9 | 20.9–27.2 | 20.4 | 18.4–22.6 | |
| Highest level of education attained | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| None | 34.7 | 31.0–38.6 | 17.5 | 14.8–20.5 | 12.8 | 9.9–16.5 | 18.5 | 12.7–26.3 | 11.3 | 9.4–13.7 | |
| Primary | 50.5 | 47.9–53.1 | 52.3 | 48.8–55.9 | 53.9 | 49.2–58.5 | 55.9 | 50.0–61.6 | 58.1 | 54.9–61.3 | |
| Secondary | 7.8 | 6.3–9.6 | 19.4 | 17.4–21.6 | 24.1 | 21.0–27.6 | 19.2 | 15.3–23.9 | 26.4 | 23.4–29.6 | |
| High school or higher | 7.0 | 5.1–9.6 | 10.8 | 8.5–13.5 | 9.2 | 6.4–13.0 | 6.3 | 4.3–9.3 | 4.1 | 3.1–5.4 | |
| Mother is literate | 37.2 | 33.2–41.2 | 54.4 | 50.4–58.4 | 69.5 | 65.1–73.5 | 56.5 | 48.8–63.8 | 76.2 | 72.9–79.3 | < 0.001 |
| Marital status | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| Single | 6.6 | 5.5–7.8 | 1.5 | 1.1–2.1 | 14.7 | 12.1–17.8 | 6.8 | 4.7–9.6 | 12.8 | 11.1–14.8 | |
| Married | 37.1 | 33.5–40.8 | 33.6 | 30.0–37.4 | 34.9 | 31.6–38.3 | 8.3 | 5.9–11.7 | 35.9 | 32.6–39.3 | |
| Domestic partnership | 52.0 | 48.2–55.8 | 60.3 | 56.5–63.9 | 44.2 | 40.6–47.8 | 79.1 | 74.2–83.3 | 40.4 | 37.5–43.4 | |
| Other | 4.4 | 3.7–5.1 | 4.6 | 3.9–5.5 | 6.2 | 4.5–8.6 | 5.8 | 4.0–8.2 | 10.9 | 9.3–12.8 | |
| Mother is a housewife | 93.8 | 91.5–95.5 | 92.8 | 90.8–94.5 | 86.2 | 82.8–89.1 | 94.5 | 91.6–96.4 | 89.9 | 88.0–91.6 | < 0.001 |
| Urban resident | 15.2 | 9.7–23.1 | 34.4 | 27.3–42.4 | 19.8 | 10.7–33.8 | 0.0 | – | 22.6 | 16.4–30.4 | 0.018 |
| Household asset index | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| Low | 40.6 | 36.3–44.9 | 53.7 | 49.8–57.6 | 43.2 | 38.4–48.2 | 53.3 | 44.1–62.2 | 46.6 | 42.9–50.4 | |
| Medium | 42.7 | 39.7–45.7 | 31.9 | 29.4–34.6 | 45.6 | 41.5–49.8 | 27.9 | 22.7–33.8 | 37.2 | 34.5–40.0 | |
| High | 16.8 | 14.0–19.9 | 14.3 | 12.3–16.7 | 11.1 | 8.9–13.9 | 18.8 | 12.5–27.2 | 16.2 | 14.1–18.5 | |
| Principal source of household water | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| Tap | 81.4 | 77.4–84.9 | 78.2 | 72.8–82.7 | 64.1 | 55.8–71.6 | 44.5 | 30.3–59.7 | 75.1 | 69.5–80.0 | |
| Borewell | 1.6 | 1.0–2.5 | 1.5 | 0.7–3.4 | 2.5 | 1.5–4.2 | 0.4 | 0.1–1.4 | 3.6 | 2.2–5.9 | |
| Other well or spring | 12.4 | 9.6–15.7 | 12.4 | 9.0–16.9 | 26.4 | 20.1–33.8 | 6.6 | 2.9–14.3 | 16.7 | 12.9–21.4 | |
| Other | 4.6 | 3.5–6.1 | 7.9 | 6.0–10.2 | 7.0 | 4.4–11.1 | 48.4 | 34.9–62.1 | 4.6 | 3.3–6.3 | |
| Treat drinking water† | 92.2 | 90.4–93.8 | 80.9 | 77.3–84.1 | 20.9 | 17.6–24.7 | 43.6 | 36.8–50.8 | 31.1 | 28.3–34.2 | < 0.001 |
| Boil‡ | 90.5 | 88.5–92.1 | 70.9 | 66.3–75.0 | 4.2 | 3.1–5.7 | 25.4 | 18.3–34.1 | 7.1 | 6.0–8.4 | < 0.001 |
| Chlorine‡ | 3.0 | 2.3–3.9 | 5.8 | 4.3–7.7 | 16.1 | 13.4–19.4 | 18.0 | 12.4–25.2 | 19.5 | 17.0–22.3 | < 0.001 |
| Water filter‡ | 0.6 | 0.3–1.0 | 0.3 | 0.2–0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2–1.0 | 1.7 | 0.7–3.9 | 1.1 | 0.6–2.1 | 0.036 |
| Other‡ | 0.7 | 0.4–1.2 | 9.1 | 7.2–11.5 | 1.0 | 0.6–1.8 | 3.0 | 1.8–5.0 | 2.4 | 1.7–3.5 | < 0.001 |
| Type of toilet used by family members | < 0.001 | ||||||||||
| Flush/pour flush toilet | 23.4 | 18.9–28.7 | 61.8 | 55.0–68.1 | 10.5 | 7.4–14.8 | 1.0 | 0.4–2.5 | 21.9 | 17.8–26.8 | |
| Latrine/toilet with hole | 65.4 | 60.5–70.0 | 34.8 | 28.9–41.3 | 74.0 | 69.6–77.9 | 27.7 | 17.7–40.5 | 52.8 | 48.1–57.4 | |
| Dry toilet | 4.8 | 3.5–6.6 | 0.9 | 0.4–1.8 | 0.1 | 0.0–0.6 | 0.2 | 0.1–1.0 | 13.9 | 10.9–17.7 | |
| No toilet | 6.2 | 4.4–8.8 | 2.5 | 1.3–4.6 | 15.1 | 11.9–19.0 | 18.7 | 11.5–28.9 | 11.3 | 8.6–14.8 | |
| Other | 0.1 | 0.1–0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0–0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1–0.6 | 52.3 | 37.2–67.0 | 0.0 | ||
| Toilet is shared with other homes§ | 5.2 | 4.1–6.6 | 12.3 | 10.5–14.4 | 17.0 | 13.5–21.2 | 9.3 | 6.0–14.1 | 18.5 | 16.4–20.8 | < 0.001 |
| Currently breast-feeding∥ | 77.2 | 74.7–79.6 | 77.8 | 75.2–80.1 | 71.8 | 67.7–75.5 | 81.4 | 75.0–86.5 | 80.8 | 77.8–83.4 | 0.003 |
| Exclusive breast-feeding¶ | 77.7 | 72.8–81.9 | 59.1 | 52.6–65.3 | 58.1 | 46.0–69.3 | 43.3 | 34.9–52.2 | 59.6 | 52.0–66.7 | 0.051 |
| Diarrhea in the past 2 weeks? | 0.004 | ||||||||||
| None | 84.8 | 82.6–86.8 | 88.4 | 87.0–89.6 | 84.6 | 81.4–87.3 | 89.4 | 85.5–92.3 | 85.5 | 84.0–86.9 | |
| Bloody diarrhea | 1.4 | 0.9–1.9 | 0.8 | 0.5–1.1 | 1.0 | 0.6–1.6 | 0.8 | 0.4–1.8 | 2.0 | 1.5–2.6 | |
| Non-bloody diarrhea | 13.8 | 12.1–15.8 | 10.9 | 9.7–12.2 | 14.5 | 11.9–17.4 | 9.8 | 7.0–13.5 | 12.5 | 11.2–14.0 | |
CI = confidence interval; SMI = Salud Mesoamérica Initiative.
*
Chi-square tests.
†
The proportion of respondents who used any form of drinking water treatment.
‡
Respondents could choose more than one method of water treatment.
§
Only asked of those who had some type of toilet.
∥
Current breast-feeding was only assessed for children less than 24 months of age.
¶
Exclusive breast-feeding was only assessed for children less than 6 months of age.