Table 4. Selected characteristics of participants in 4 birth cohorts, by site and gender.
| Brazil | Guatemala | Philippine | South Africa | Pooled | Difference P | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | |
| Outcomes | ||||||||||||
| Birth weight (kg) | 3.24 | 3.13 | 3.09 | 2.97 | 3.01 | 2.97 | 3.12 | 3.02 | 3.15 | 3.05 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (0.57) | (0.53) | (0.51) | (0.47) | (0.44) | (0.43) | (0.52) | (0.50) | (0.54) | (0.51) | |||
| Low birth weight (%)* | 8.04 | 10.3 | 8.91 | 10.6 | 10.7 | 12.4 | 9.33 | 12.1 | 9.03 | 11.3 | 0.02 | 0.04 |
| Height for z score at 2y | -0.78 | -0.7 | -3.2 | -3.01 | -2.61 | -2.52 | -1.29 | -1.05 | -1.55 | -1.37 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (1.28) | (1.28) | (1.20) | (1.11) | (1.17) | (1.12) | (1.22) | (1.07) | (1.54) | (1.48) | |||
| Stunted at 2y (%)* | 16.3 | 11.4 | 84 | 82.5 | 69.3 | 66 | 24.4 | 16.6 | 37.3 | 32.3 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Highest grade obtained | 8.9 | 9.61 | 5.49 | 4.67 | 9.49 | 10.5 | 10.8 | 11.3 | 9.11 | 9.74 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (3.17) | (3.29) | (3.55) | (3.40) | (3.13) | (2.67) | (1.59) | (1.28) | (3.25) | (3.31) | |||
| Controls | ||||||||||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | 39.2 | 39.5 | 39.1 | 39.5 | 38.6 | 38.9 | 38.2 | 38.1 | 38.8 | 39 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (1.92) | (1.86) | (3.02) | (3.00) | (2.18) | (2.13) | (1.89) | (1.94) | (2.13) | (2.14) | |||
| Preterm (binary)* | 6.53 | 6.03 | 14.5 | 11 | 16 | 14.5 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 11 | 10.5 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Maternal age (y) | 25.7 | 26.3 | 26.8 | 27 | 26.4 | 26.1 | 26 | 25.9 | 26.1 | 26.1 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (6.00) | (6.35) | (7.28) | (7.36) | (6.10) | (5.92) | (6.07) | (6.09) | (6.21) | (6.26) | |||
| Parity | 2.09 | 2.18 | 3.03 | 3 | 2.7 | 2.67 | 2.15 | 2.09 | 2.35 | 2.32 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (1.10) | (1.11) | (1.19) | (1.19) | (1.17) | (1.18) | (1.09) | (1.06) | (1.18) | (1.16) | |||
| Only child (%) | 40.2 | 38.3 | 18.1 | 18.4 | 21.9 | 22.7 | 35.7 | 37.5 | 32.5 | 32.6 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Mother's schooling (y) | 6.39 | 6.29 | 1.4 | 1.29 | 7.14 | 7.07 | 9.54 | 9.57 | 6.7 | 6.83 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (4.11) | (4.31) | (1.64) | (1.57) | (3.37) | (3.24) | (3.00) | (3.01) | (4.15) | (4.21) | |||
| Wealth quintile | 2.77 | 2.77 | 2.97 | 2.96 | 2.84 | 2.85 | 2.98 | 2.96 | 2.86 | 2.9 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (1.29) | (1.36) | (1.34) | (1.40) | (1.38) | (1.40) | (1.34) | (1.31) | (1.33) | (1.34) | |||
| Maternal height (cm) | 156 | 156 | 149 | 149 | 151 | 150 | 159 | 158 | 155 | 155 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (6.18) | (6.03) | (5.28) | (5.26) | (5.00) | (5.01) | (6.40) | (6.38) | (6.91) | (6.72) | |||
| Mother is married (%) | 91.9 | 91.7 | 91 | 92.8 | 97.8 | 97.2 | 44.3 | 42.8 | 82.3 | 80.6 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Children dependence | 0.66 | 0.65 | 1.1 | 1.13 | 0.92 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.74 | 0.72 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Ratio | (0.35) | (0.35) | (0.61) | (0.58) | (0.50) | (0.50) | (0.33) | (0.33) | (0.46) | (0.45) | ||
| Crowding index | 2.94 | 3.11 | 4.38 | 4.31 | 3.12 | 3.19 | 3.27 | 3.24 | 3.21 | 3.21 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| (1.37) | (1.61) | (2.47) | (2.32) | (1.79) | (1.89) | (1.66) | (1.61) | (1.74) | (1.74) | |||
| Father's occupation | 2.19 | 2.08 | 2.36 | 2.33 | 2.61 | 2.51 | 1.91 | 1.87 | 2.24 | 2.19 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Class | (1.42) | (1.39) | (0.87) | (0.93) | (1.07) | (1.06) | (1.31) | (1.27) | (1.29) | (1.29) | ||
| Toilet type (%) | ||||||||||||
| No toilet at home | 0.69 | 0.37 | 86.8 | 88.7 | 36.3 | 37.4 | 0 | 0 | 15.8 | 16.3 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Some excreta removal | 21.1 | 20.2 | 4.72 | 5.41 | 58.3 | 58 | 0.65 | 0.62 | 28.1 | 26.2 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Flush toilet | 78.3 | 79.4 | 8.49 | 5.86 | 5.46 | 4.52 | 99.4 | 99.4 | 56 | 57.5 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Water access (%) | ||||||||||||
| Worst access to safe water | 5.02 | 4.33 | 16.5 | 23 | 15.4 | 18.6 | 0 | 0 | 8.02 | 8.82 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Moderate access to safe water | 18.7 | 19.3 | 79.7 | 69.8 | 73.2 | 70.5 | 14.4 | 14.1 | 37.3 | 35.8 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Best access to safe water | 76.3 | 76.3 | 3.77 | 7.21 | 11.4 | 10.9 | 85.7 | 85.9 | 54.7 | 55.4 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
Note: Statistics are mean or %, with standard deviations in parentheses.
* are for the variables not included in analysis as outcome or control variables. Mother’s schooling is years of completed education. Crowding index denotes the ratio of the number of people over the rooms of the house. Occupational class represents father/mother’s occupation in six rank ordered categories, with unemployed as 0, lowest occupational class as 1, moving up to 5 for the highest class such as professional, technical and commercial. Wealth quintile is the household asset score grouped in quintiles for each country site, running from 1 (poorest) to 5 (wealthiest). The definition of asset is also site specific.