Table 3.
Impacts on child growth: WHZ and HAZ
| Independent variable† | Child Z score (dependent variable) | |
|---|---|---|
| HAZ | WHZ | |
| Treatment × Month in Trial | 0.007 | 0.006 |
| Treatment | −0.205* | 0.108 |
| Time in Trial (mo) | 0.023*** | 0.006**** |
| MAM @ one or more visits | −1.217*** | −0.777*** |
| SAM @ one or more visits | −0.569* | −0.900*** |
| Time since MAM | −0.009 | 0.020**** |
| Time since SAM | −0.013 | 0.049** |
| >18 mo × ln([Avg]A)‡ | 0.165** | −0.019 |
| ≤18 mo × ln([Avg]A) | −0.029 | −0.017 |
| >18 mo × ln([Avg]F) | 0.070 | −0.022** |
| ≤18 mo × ln([Avg]F) | 0.000 | −0.029 |
| >18 mo × ln([Avg]V) | 0.081 | 0.037** |
| ≤18 mo × ln([Avg]V) | −0.036 | −0.092*** |
| >18 mo × ln([Avg]G) | −0.234* | −0.003 |
| ≤18 mo × ln([Avg]G) | −0.061 | −0.111*** |
| >18 mo × Breast(fed) [feeding]§ | −0.338** | −0.102* |
| ≤18 mo × Not breast(fed) [feeding] | 0.644 | 0.349** |
| ≤18 mo × Breast(fed) [feeding] | −0.685**** | 0.434*** |
| Child Age | −0.064*** | −0.022** |
| Child Age sq. | 0.001** | 0.000* |
| ln(Per capita income) | 0.028** | −0.007 |
| Female Child | 0.154**** | 0.076 |
| Mother’s (Caregiver’s) Age | 0.004 | 0.000 |
| Mother’s (Caregiver’s) Education Level | 0.096 | 0.050* |
| cosmonth | 0.052*** | |
| sinmonth | −0.045*** | |
| Intercept | 0.095 | −0.179 |
WHZ and HAZ scores are the dependent variables. The number of observations for all equations is 2,549. The estimation method is the structural equation model with random effects at the child level. Regressions are estimated (simultaneously with food category regressions in Table 2) using the gsem routine in Stata 17 with random effects at the individual child level. *Statistically significant at P < 0.1; **statistically significant at P < 0.05; ***statistically significant at P < 0.01; ****statistically significant at P < 0.15.
†Independent variables include the NDV vaccination treatment group (the control group is the base case), time since first diagnosis of MAM (MUAC of 115 to 124 mm) or SAM (MUAC of <115 mm), time in the trial in months, child age and breastfeeding status (18 mo+ × not breastfeeding is the base case), logarithm of per capita income, gender of the child, mother’s (or caregiver’s) age, mother’s (or caregiver’s) education level, and month of the year (to reflect seasonality). The use of 18 mo as an age reference is based on our data that the transition from breastfeeding as the primary source of child nutrition through a period of increased intake of other food sources occurs up to month 18 (Fig. 2). × represents the interaction between two variables.
‡Average servings reported over past visits were used for the HAZ regression, and current reported servings (last 3 d) were used for the WHZ regression. SI Appendix, Supplementary Text S3 and Table S5 have a robustness analysis of this specification. For the WHZ regression, ln(Food Group) is the logarithm of servings for the current visit. For the HAZ regression, ln(Food) is the logarithm of average servings for that food category reported in all household visits to date.
§For the WHZ regression, Breastfed and Not Breastfed indicate whether a child is currently being breastfed. For the HAZ regression, they indicate whether a child has ever been breastfed during the trial period to date.