Table 1.
Prevalence of underweight (moderate and severe) in relation to demographic, socioeconomic, environmental and spatial characteristics in Punjab (MICS 2014)
| Variables | N (%) Total | N (%) (Underweight <−2 SD) | χ2 P value | N (%) (Underweight <−3 SD) | χ2 P value |
| 24 042 | 8010 (33.32) | – | 2704 (11.25) | – | |
| Sex | |||||
| Male | 12 214 | 4005 (33) | 0.208 | 1325 (11) | 0.075 |
| Female | 11 828 | 3988 (34) | 1377 (12) | ||
| Age | |||||
| 0–5 | 2083 | 635 (30) | <0.001 | 260 (13) | <0.001 |
| 6–11 | 2641 | 826 (31) | 299 (11) | ||
| 12–23 | 4617 | 1604 (35) | 589 (13) | ||
| 24–35 | 4647 | 1621 (35) | 559 (12) | ||
| 36–47 | 5163 | 1787 (35) | 581(11) | ||
| 48–59 | 4891 | 1520 (31) | 414 (8) | ||
| Ethnicity | |||||
| Urdu | 1199 | 317 (26) | <0.001 | 81 (7) | <0.001 |
| Punjabi | 15 475 | 4797 (31) | 1532 (10) | ||
| Saraiki | 5837 | 2325 (40) | 890 (15) | ||
| Others | 1531 | 553 (36) | 198 (13) | ||
| Birth order | |||||
| First | 15 682 | 4925 (31) | <0.001 | 1522 (10) | <0.001 |
| Second | 7041 | 2551 (36) | 939 (13) | ||
| Third (and up) | 1319 | 516 (39) | 241(18) | ||
| Size at birth | |||||
| Large | 1052 | 275 (26) | <0.001 | 70 (7) | <0.001 |
| Average | 8881 | 2798 (32) | 917 (10) | ||
| Small | 2625 | 1178 (45) | 470 (18) | ||
| Diarrhoea | |||||
| Yes | 4201 | 1593 (38) | <0.001 | 632 (15) | <0.001 |
| No | 19 841 | 6400 (32) | 2069 (10) | ||
| Breast feeding | |||||
| Yes | 13 361 | 4497 (34) | 0.021 | 1607 (12) | <0.001 |
| No | 670 | 205 (31) | 101 (15) | ||
| Gender of household head | |||||
| Male | 23 401 | 7789 (33) | 0.359 | 2638 (11) | 0.835 |
| Female | 640 | 204 (32) | 63 (10) | ||
| Smoking mother | |||||
| No | 22 472 | 7342 (33) | <0.001 | 2475 (11) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 1569 | 651 (41) | 226 (14) | ||
| Mother’s age | |||||
| <18 | 1712 | 611 (36) | 0.027 | 214 (12) | 0.588 |
| 18–24 | 5197 | 1687 (32) | 558 (11) | ||
| 25–35 | 13 876 | 4543 (33) | 1528 (11) | ||
| 36+ | 3257 | 1152 (35) | 402 (12) | ||
| Mother’s education | |||||
| Illiterate | 11 853 | 4872 (41) | <0.001 | 1867 (16) | <0.001 |
| Primary | 4306 | 1421 (33) | 428 (10) | ||
| Middle | 2370 | 637 (27) | 166 (7) | ||
| Secondary | 2951 | 689 (23) | 162 (5) | ||
| Higher | 2563 | 373 (15) | 79 (3) | ||
| Father’s education | |||||
| Illiterate | 7094 | 3087 (44) | <0.001 | 1234 (17) | <0.001 |
| Primary | 4338 | 1619 (37) | 549 (13) | ||
| Middle | 3948 | 1241(31) | 375 (9) | ||
| Secondary | 5269 | 1406 (27) | 384 (7) | ||
| Higher | 3393 | 638 (19) | 159 (5) | ||
| Antenatal care | |||||
| 1–4 visits | 6198 | 2197 (35) | <0.001 | 683 (11) | <0.001 |
| 5+ visits | 3902 | 964 (25) | 296 (8) | ||
| Child delivery | |||||
| Home | 5473 | 2251 (41) | <0.001 | 857 (16) | <0.001 |
| Hospitals | 7140 | 2025 (28) | 608 (9) | ||
| Wealth index | |||||
| Poor | 10 839 | 4582 (42) | <0.001 | 1779 (16) | <0.001 |
| Middle | 4687 | 1487 (32) | 446 (10) | ||
| Rich | 8515 | 1924 (23) | 476 (6) | ||
| Household size | |||||
| Size 3–4 | 2868 | 936 (33) | <0.001 | 303 (11) | 0.015 |
| Size 5–6 | 7109 | 2366 (33) | 770 (11) | ||
| Size 7–8 | 6003 | 2141(36) | 760 (13) | ||
| Size>8 | 8060 | 2549 (32) | 868 (11) | ||
| Sanitation | |||||
| Unimproved | 6969 | 3021 (43) | <0.001 | 1188 (17) | <0.001 |
| Improved | 17 073 | 4972 (29) | 1513 (9) | ||
| Water facilities | |||||
| Unimproved | 1411 | 380 (27) | <0.001 | 100 (7) | <0.001 |
| Improved | 22 631 | 7613 (34) | 2602 (11) | ||
| Water treatment | |||||
| Treated | 1454 | 311 (21) | <0.001 | 83 (6) | <0.001 |
| Untreated | 22 587 | 7682 (34) | 2619 (12) | ||
| Yes | 14 918 | 4306 (29) | 1256 (8) | ||
| Media exposure total (t otal= newspaper+ radio+ TV) | |||||
| No | 8414 | 3473 (41) | <0.001 | 1372 (16) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 15 627 | 4519 (29) | 1329 (9) | ||
| Female health worker visit (PNC) | |||||
| No | 7756 | 2596 (33) | 0.965 | 880 (11) | 0.695 |
| Yes | 4754 | 1653 (35) | 576 (12) | ||
| Division level situation | |||||
| Rawalpindi | 1819 | 387 (21) | <0.001 | 102 (6) | <0.001 |
| Bahawalpur | 2847 | 1158 (41) | 451 (16) | ||
| D.G. Khan | 2721 | 1165 (43) | 455 (17) | ||
| Faisalabad | 3024 | 1031 (34) | 329 (11) | ||
| Gujranwala | 3087 | 780 (25) | 229 (7) | ||
| Lahore | 4152 | 1235 (30) | 382 (9) | ||
| Multan | 2769 | 987 (36) | 335 (12) | ||
| Sahiwal | 1814 | 636 (35) | 217 (12) | ||
| Sargodha | 1807 | 611 (34) | 201 (11) | ||
| Regional level | |||||
| Urban | 7447 | 2002 (27) | <0.001 | 554 (7) | <0.001 |
| Rural | 16 595 | 5991 (36) | 2147 (13) | ||