Table 4.
Determinants of inadequate meal frequency in children 6–23 months in four South Asian countries (adjusted odds ratios)
| Characteristic | Bangladesh | India | Nepal | Sri Lanka | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 1518 | n = 11 536 | n = 1428 | n = 2106 | |||||||||
| OR | [95% CI] | P | OR | [95% CI] | P | OR | [95% CI] | P | OR | [95% CI] | P | |
| Child characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Child age | ||||||||||||
| 18–23 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||||||||
| 12–17 | 2.43 | (1.45, 4.08) | 0.00 | 1.37 | (1.21, 1.55) | <0.001 | 1.74 | (1.02, 2.98) | 0.04 | 1.30 | (0.85, 1.99) | 0.231 |
| 6–11 | 8.89 | (5.56, 14.21) | <0.001 | 2.15 | (1.87, 2.46) | <0.001 | 4.46 | (2.67, 7.46) | <0.001 | 3.09 | (1.99, 4.81) | <0.001 |
| Parental characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Maternal education | ||||||||||||
| Secondary and above | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| Primary | 1.26 | (0.88, 1.82) | 0.21 | 1.28 | (1.08, 1.53) | 0.005 | 2.23 | (1.13, 4.41) | 0.02 | |||
| No education | 1.70 | (1.09, 2.67) | 0.02 | 1.26 | (1.08, 1.46) | 0.002 | 3.06 | (1.67, 5.63) | <0.001 | |||
| Mother working | ||||||||||||
| Non‐working | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||||||||||
| Working | 0.85 | (0.74, 0.96) | 0.012 | 1.91 | (1.35, 2.69) | <0.001 | ||||||
| Mother's BMI (kg/m2) | ||||||||||||
| 18.5–24.9 | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| <18.5 | 1.60 | (1.15, 2.22) | 0.005 | |||||||||
| ≥25 | 1.05 | (0.66, 1.67) | 0.846 | |||||||||
| Household characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Decision making at household | ||||||||||||
| Mother involved | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Mother not involved | 1.20 | (1.04, 1.38) | 0.015 | |||||||||
| Household wealth index | ||||||||||||
| Richest | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Richer | 1.35 | (1.11, 1.63) | 0.002 | |||||||||
| Middle | 1.44 | (1.16, 1.79) | 0.001 | |||||||||
| Poorer | 1.44 | (1.14, 1.82) | 0.002 | |||||||||
| Poorest | 1.39 | (1.09, 1.78) | 0.008 | |||||||||
| Reads newspaper | ||||||||||||
| Almost everyday | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Not at all/at least once a week | 1.33 | (1.05, 1.69) | 0.017 | |||||||||
| Listens to radio | ||||||||||||
| Almost everyday | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Not at all/At least once a week | 1.25 | (1.08, 1.45) | 0.002 | |||||||||
| Watches television | ||||||||||||
| Almost everyday | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Not at all/At least once a week | 1.82 | (1.14, 2.89) | <0.001 | |||||||||
| Exposure to media | ||||||||||||
| Satisfactory | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Limited | 1.55 | (1.08, 2.21) | 0.015 | |||||||||
| Health care characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Antenatal clinic visits | ||||||||||||
| ≥7 | 1.00 | 1.00 | ||||||||||
| 4–6 | 1.32 | (1.11, 1.58) | 0.002 | 1.56 | (1.10, 2.21) | 0.014 | ||||||
| 1–3 | 1.43 | (1.17, 1.76) | 0.001 | 1.54 | (1.00, 2.36) | 0.048 | ||||||
| Unknown/none | 1.18 | (0.94, 1.48) | 0.164 | 1.65 | (0.50, 5.48) | 0.411 | ||||||
| Antenatal home visits by PHM | ||||||||||||
| Yes | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| No | 1.85 | (1.26, 2.73) | 0.002 | |||||||||
| Community level characteristics | ||||||||||||
| Type of residence | ||||||||||||
| Rural | 1.00 | |||||||||||
| Urban | 2.00 | (1.23, 3.25) | 0.005 | |||||||||
| Geographical region* | ||||||||||||
| Region 1 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |||||||||
| Region 2 | 3.40 | (1.67, 6.94) | <0.001 | 1.24 | (1.01, 1.51) | 0.040 | 3.16 | (1.87, 5.34) | <0.001 | |||
| Region 3 | 1.63 | (0.96, 2.76) | 0.07 | 1.12 | (0.92, 1.36) | 0.269 | 1.51 | (0.89, 2.55) | 0.124 | |||
| Region 4 | 1.02 | (0.50, 2.07) | 0.96 | 0.74 | (0.60, 0.90) | 0.003 | 1.24 | (0.68, 2.27) | 0.477 | |||
| Region 5 | 4.52 | (2.57, 7.94) | <0.001 | 0.99 | (0.78, 1.26) | 0.938 | 1.40 | (0.62, 3.18) | 0.417 | |||
| Region 6 | 3.40 | (1.82, 6.35) | <0.001 | 1.55 | (1.21, 1.99) | 0.001 | 3.97 | (2.31, 6.82) | <0.001 | |||
| Region 7 | 2.65 | (1.52, 4.62) | 0.001 | |||||||||
| Region 8 | 1.13 | (0.51, 2.50) | 0.770 | |||||||||
OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; BMI, body mass index; PHM, Public Health Midwife. Minimum meal frequency was defined as the proportion of children 6–23 months of age who receive solid, semi‐solid, or soft foods the minimum number of times or more. *Geographical region: Regions 1–6 in Bangladesh: Rajshahi; Sylhet; Dhaka; Khulna; Chittagong; Barisal. Regions 1–6 in India: South; North; Central; East; Northeast; West. Regions 1–8 In Sri Lanka: Western Province; Central Province; Southern Province; Eastern Province; North Western Province; North Central Province; Uva Province; Sabaragamuwa Province.