Table 2.
Characteristics of pooled participants by maternal autonomy (N = 7,348).
| Characteristics | Low autonomy (n = 1643) |
Moderate autonomy (n = 3596) |
High autonomy (n = 2109) |
p value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | ||
| Child stunting | 42.5 | 39.3 | 36.5 | < 0.001 |
| Child factors | ||||
| Age (months) | < 0.001 | |||
| 0–11 | 24.3 | 26.3 | 25.1 | |
| 12–23 | 31.6 | 27.3 | 23.5 | |
| 24–35 | 20.0 | 22.0 | 22.9 | |
| 36–47 | 15.3 | 15.3 | 17.6 | |
| 48–59 | 8.8 | 9.1 | 10.8 | |
| Age (months) Mean (SD) | 15.1 | 15.2 | 18.8 | |
| Sex, Girl | 50.1 | 51.8 | 50.9 | 0.737 |
| Child had diarrhea recently, Yes | 24.2 | 22.5 | 19.7 | 0.009 |
| Maternal factors | ||||
| Age (years) | < 0.001 | |||
| 15–19 | 7.5 | 9.4 | 4.8 | |
| 20–24 | 29.0 | 28.6 | 25.0 | |
| 25–29 | 23.9 | 28.2 | 26.4 | |
| 30–34 | 18.3 | 16.6 | 22.0 | |
| 35–39 | 12.3 | 10.8 | 14.4 | |
| 40–44 | 6.6 | 4.2 | 5.4 | |
| 45–49 | 2.4 | 2.2 | 2.0 | |
| Age (years) Mean (SD) | 6.9 | 7.0 | 6.7 | |
| Marital status | < 0.001 | |||
| Not married | 2.0 | 4.7 | 0.0 | |
| Married/cohabiting | 92.7 | 79.1 | 100 | |
| Divorced/separated/widowed | 5.3 | 16.2 | 0.0 | |
| Number of other wives†† | 0.002 | |||
| 0 | 86.2 | 88.2 | 89.2 | |
| 1 | 12.5 | 10.7 | 10.2 | |
| 2 + | 1.3 | 1.1 | 0.6 | |
| Mother’s BMI (kg/m2)†† | < 0.001 | |||
| Underweight (< 18.5) | 5.8 | 6.1 | 4.6 | |
| Normal (18.5–24.9) | 76.5 | 76.6 | 70.0 | |
| Overweight (≥ 25.0) | 17.7 | 17.3 | 25.4 | |
| Mother’s education level | < 0.001 | |||
| No education | 15.5 | 14.8 | 11.4 | |
| Primary | 71.9 | 65.6 | 63.3 | |
| Secondary or higher | 12.6 | 19.6 | 25.3 | |
| Occupation | < 0.001 | |||
| Housekeeping/agriculture | 76.6 | 73.4 | 66.1 | |
| Professional/service/manual labor | 23.4 | 26.6 | 33.9 | |
| Breastfeeding duration†† | < 0.001 | |||
| Never breastfed | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.4 | |
| Stopped breastfeeding | 42.8 | 44.5 | 50.7 | |
| Still breastfeeding | 56.0 | 54.3 | 47.9 | |
| Current pregnancy status, Pregnant | 9.0 | 8.7 | 8.4 | 0.234 |
| Household Factors | ||||
| Family wealth index | < 0.001 | |||
| Poorest | 21.6 | 20.4 | 18.5 | |
| Poorer | 25.1 | 21.3 | 22.3 | |
| Middle | 23.6 | 19.6 | 18.1 | |
| Richer | 19.5 | 18.3 | 19.1 | |
| Richest | 10.2 | 20.4 | 22.0 | |
| Number of HH members | < 0.001 | |||
| 1–5 | 55.5 | 53.9 | 55.5 | |
| 6–10 | 42.6 | 42.8 | 43.0 | |
| 11 + | 1.9 | 3.3 | 1.5 | |
| Number of children under the age of 5†† | < 0.001 | |||
| 1 | 51.7 | 50.8 | 58.4 | |
| 2 | 40.3 | 40.5 | 35.2 | |
| 3 + | 8.0 | 8.7 | 6.4 | |
| Type of area of residence, Rural | 93.6 | 82.6 | 82.0 | < 0.001 |
| Region | < 0.001 | |||
| Northern | 14.8 | 8.7 | 11.7 | |
| Central | 42.4 | 45.0 | 45.1 | |
| Southern | 42.8 | 46.3 | 43.2 | |
|
Community Factors (Community Health Services) | ||||
| Antenatal attendence | 0.084 | |||
| Never attended | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.9 | |
| < 4 visits (inadequate) | 50.6 | 49.7 | 46.6 | |
| ≥ 4 visits (recommended) | 47.9 | 49.1 | 51.5 | |
| IFA supplementation, Yes | 90.3 | 89.9 | 90.6 | 0.755 |
| Received anthelmintic drugs during previous pregnancy, Yes | 41.5 | 38.8 | 47.5 | < 0.001 |
p, Pearson’s chi-square p value; ††Total count < n; BMI, body mass index; IFA, iron and folic acid; SD, standard deviation. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Significant p values are in boldface.