Table 4.
Bivariate analyses between undernutrition and feeding/caring practice variables
| Background variable | Type of intervention and conditions† | Stunting (N=1498) | Underweight(N=1498) | Wasting (N=1498) | ||||||||||||||
| Nutrition specific | Nutrition sensitive | Enabling environment | (+) Stunted | (−) Not stunted | P value‡ | (+) Under weight | (−) Not underweight | P value‡ | (+) Wasted | (−) Not wasted | P value‡ | |||||||
| N | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | n | (%) | |||||||
| Categorical variables | ||||||||||||||||||
| Food preparation process | ||||||||||||||||||
| v67: rinse vegetable and fruit with safe water | – | X | – | 548 | 79.2 | 655 | 81.3 | 0.329 | 248 | 82.7 | 955 | 79.7 | 0.291 | 89 | 83.2 | 1114 | 80.1 | 0.528 |
| : Cook meat thoroughly till meat juice is clear | – | X | – | 409 | 59.1 | 483 | 59.9 | 0.752 | 181 | 60.3 | 711 | 59.3 | 0.793 | 75 | 70.1 | 817 | 58.7 | 0.024* |
| v69: store leftovers in cool places§ | – | X | – | 127 | 18.4 | 144 | 17.9 | 0.84 | 51 | 18.8 | 220 | 18.4 | 0.616 | 17 | 15.9 | 254 | 18.3 | 0.604 |
| v70: store staple food in container(s) with cover¶ | – | X | – | 192 | 27.7 | 253 | 31.4 | 0.126 | 84 | 28 | 361 | 30.1 | 0.481 | 35 | 32.7 | 410 | 29.5 | 0.51 |
| v71: store utensils in cabinet after cleaning | – | X | – | 95 | 13.7 | 107 | 13.3 | 0.82 | 48 | 16 | 154 | 12.9 | 0.157 | 23 | 21.5 | 1391 | 92.9 | 0.018* |
| v72: iodised table salt | X | – | 531 | 76.7 | 618 | 76.7 | 1 | 218 | 72.7 | 931 | 77.7 | 0.067 | 75 | 70.1 | 1074 | 77.2 | 0.059 | |
| Food preparation conditions | ||||||||||||||||||
| v73: clean cooking fuel†† | – | X | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.2 | 0.503 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.1 | 1 |
| v74: indoor cooking facility‡‡ | – | X | – | 368 | 53.2 | 485 | 60.2 | 0.07 | 161 | 53.7 | 692 | 57.8 | 0.216 | 68 | 63.6 | 785 | 56.4 | 0.158 |
| Infant and young child feeding | ||||||||||||||||||
| v75: breastfed in 1 hour after birth (n=754)§§ | X | – | – | 223 | 96.1 | 490 | 93.9 | 0.228 | 69 | 93.2 | 644 | 94.7 | 0.587 | 53 | 91.4 | 660 | 94.8 | 0.234 |
| v76: exclusively breastfed (n=156)¶¶ | X | – | – | 22 | 73.3 | 95 | 75.4 | 0.817 | 6 | 66.7 | 111 | 75.5 | 0.692 | 10 | 66.7 | 107 | 75.9 | 0.53 |
| v77: continued breastfeeding at 1 year (n=104)*** | X | – | – | 35 | 94.6 | 54 | 80.6 | 0.078 | 14 | 100 | 75 | 83.3 | 0.212 | 7 | 87.5 | 82 | 85.4 | 1 |
| v78: introduction of solid, semi-solid and/or soft foods (n=132)††† | X | – | – | 13 | 54.2 | 84 | 77.8 | 0.023* | 4 | 50 | 93 | 75 | 0.207 | 5 | 50 | 92 | 75.4 | 0.129 |
| v79: at least four of seven food groups consumed (n=605)‡‡‡ | X | – | – | 18 | 8.9 | 27 | 6.7 | 0.329 | 6 | 9.2 | 39 | 7.2 | 0.614 | 2 | 4.5 | 43 | 7.7 | 0.763 |
| v80: minimum meal frequency (n=605)§§§ | X | – | – | 34 | 16.8 | 68 | 16.9 | 1 | 9 | 13.8 | 93 | 17.2 | 0.6 | 9 | 20.5 | 93 | 16.6 | 0.53 |
| Pre- and post-birth care | ||||||||||||||||||
| v81:≥4 antenatal care visits | – | X | – | 314 | 45.4 | 345 | 42.8 | 0.322 | 50 | 46.7 | 609 | 43.8 | 0.614 | 189 | 27.3 | 236 | 29.3 | 0.421 |
| v82: facility-based delivery | – | X | – | 345 | 49.9 | 421 | 52.2 | 0.378 | 155 | 51.7 | 611 | 51 | 0.947 | 53 | 49.5 | 713 | 51.3 | 0.764 |
| v83: low birth weight (<2500 gram at birth) | X | – | – | 89 | 12.9 | 99 | 11 | 0.262 | 45 | 15 | 132 | 11.1 | 0.072 | 18 | 16.8 | 159 | 11.5 | 0.119 |
| v84: mother–child cosleeping | X | X | – | 636 | 91.9 | 777 | 96.4 | <0.001** | 265 | 88.3 | 1148 | 95.8 | <0.001** | 87 | 90.7 | 1316 | 94.6 | 0.123 |
| Primary attendant for the child’s birth | ||||||||||||||||||
| Skilled birth attendant (physician, nurse and midwife) | – | – | – | 596 | 86.1 | 703 | 87.2 | Ref. | 254 | 84.7 | 1045 | 87.2 | Ref. | 95 | 88.8 | 1204 | 86.6 | Ref. |
| v85: traditional birth attendant | – | X | – | 33 | 5.1 | 35 | 4.7 | 0.709 | 12 | 4.4 | 56 | 5 | 0.875 | 1 | 1 | 67 | 5.2 | 0.084 |
| v86: no health worker attended | – | X | – | 12 | 1.9 | 13 | 1.7 | 0.843 | 5 | 1.8 | 20 | 1.8 | 1 | 278 | 40.2 | 163 | 20.2 | <0.001** |
| v87: Do not know do not remember | – | X | – | 51 | 7.4 | 55 | 6.8 | 0.687 | 29 | 9.7 | 77 | 6.4 | 0.059 | 9 | 8.4 | 97 | 7 | 0.556 |
| Total | 692 | 100 | 806 | 100 | 0.687 | 300 | 100 | 1198 | 100 | 107 | 100 | 1391 | 100 | |||||
| Ownership of home-based records | ||||||||||||||||||
| v88: child vaccination card/handbook | X | – | – | 368 | 53.2 | 436 | 54.1 | 0.755 | 139 | 46.3 | 665 | 55.5 | 0.005* | 42 | 39.3 | 762 | 54.8 | 0.002* |
| v89: maternal health card/handbook | X | – | – | 72 | 10.4 | 85 | 10.5 | 1 | 36 | 12 | 121 | 10.1 | 0.343 | 14 | 13.1 | 143 | 10.3 | 0.33 |
| v90:child health card/handbook | X | – | – | 125 | 18.1 | 127 | 15.8 | 0.24 | 60 | 20 | 192 | 16 | 0.102 | 14 | 2 | 15 | 1.9 | 0.346 |
| v91: maternal and child health card/handbook | X | – | – | 14 | 2 | 15 | 1.9 | 0.853 | 8 | 2.7 | 21 | 1.8 | 0.346 | 3 | 2.8 | 26 | 1.9 | 0.457 |
| v92: birth certificate | X | – | – | 51 | 7.4 | 53 | 6.6 | 0.61 | 30 | 10 | 74 | 6.2 | 0.030* | 13 | 12.1 | 91 | 6.5 | 0.045* |
| v93: any home-based record(s) | X | – | – | 581 | 84 | 679 | 84.2 | 0.887 | 247 | 82.3 | 1013 | 84.6 | 0.377 | 88 | 82.2 | 1172 | 84.3 | 0.583 |
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P value¶¶¶ | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P value¶¶¶ | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | P value¶¶¶ | ||||
| Interval and ratio variables | ||||||||||||||||||
| v94: mother’s current height (cm) | X | – | – | 153.7 | 7.02 | 154.2 | 7.5 | 0.020* | 153.7 | 6.66 | 154.1 | 7.43 | 0.117 | 154.3 | 6.3 | 154 | 7.35 | 0.676 |
*p<0.05,
†Categorisation based on the previous review (Black et al. 2013).15
‡χ2 test (Fisher’s exact test)
§Cool places include: (i) refrigerator and (ii) under shadow.
¶Materials of containers include: (i) plastic and (ii) metal.
**p<0.01.
††Clean cooking fuel includes: (i) electricity; (ii) gas; and (iii) solar energy (WHO 2016).38
‡‡Indoor cooking facility includes: (i) kitchen in a house and (ii) kitchen in a separate building. (Malla and Timilsina).39
§§Applicable only for children 0–24 months of age (n=754) (WHO 2010).37
¶¶Applicable only for children 0–5 months of age (n=156) (WHO 2010).37
***Applicable only for children 12–15 months of age (n=104) (WHO 2010).37
†††Applicable only for children 6–8 months of age (n=132) (WHO 2010).37
‡‡‡Seven food groups are composed of: (i) grains/roots/tubers; (ii) legumes/nuts; (iii) milk products; (iv) flesh foods; (v) eggs; and (vi) other fruits and vegetables. Applicable only for children 6–23 months of age (n=605) (WHO 2010).37
§§§Minimum meal frequency is defined as: (i) 2 (meal/day) for breastfed children 6–8 months of age; (ii) 3 (meal/day) for breastfed children 9–23 months of age; and (iii) 4 (meal/day) for non-breastfed children 6–23 months of age. Applicable only for children 6–23 months of age (n=605) (WHO 2010).37
¶¶¶Mann-Whitney U test.