TABLE 2.
Child nutrition outcomes by maternal vegetarian status, with tests for significant differences relative to children of nonvegetarian mothers1
| Nonvegetarian mother | Lactovegetarian mother | Lacto-ovovegetarian mother | Lactopescatarian mother | Vegan mother | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stunted (n = 223, 040) | Mean (95% CI) | 0.389 (0.385, 0.392) | 0.367 (0.362, 0.372) | 0.373 (0.359, 0.387) | 0.434 (0.400, 0.467) | 0.455 (0.432, 0.478) |
| P value2 | <0.001 | 0.034 | 0.009 | <0.001 | ||
| Wasted (n = 220,600) | Mean (95% CI) | 0.189 (0.186, 0.192) | 0.182 (0.177, 0.186) | 0.178 (0.167, 0.189) | 0.187 (0.159, 0.215) | 0.215 (0.196, 0.234) |
| P value | 0.004 | 0.058 | 0.872 | 0.009 | ||
| Anemic (n = 198,908) | Mean (95% CI) | 0.578 (0.574, 0.581) | 0.599 (0.593, 0.605) | 0.604 (0.589, 0.619) | 0.619 (0.583, 0.654) | 0.638 (0.615, 0.662) |
| P value | <0.001 | 0.001 | 0.023 | <0.001 |
1
Authors’ estimates of means and 95% CIs based on the 2015–2016 NFHS data. All statistics use NFHS survey weights.
2
P values are from tests of the null hypothesis of equality between malnutrition prevalence among children of different varieties of vegetarian mothers and children of nonvegetarian mothers.
NFHS, National Family Health Survey.