Table 1.

Background characteristics of the selected sample from the South Asian Demographic Health Survey (DHS) program.

Characteristics	Total		Low Birth Weight				P-value
			Un-weighted Prevalence		Weighted Prevalence
	n	(%)	n	(%)	n	(%)
Mother age (years)							<0.001
≤19	5240	3.07	1109	21.16	1284	22.02
20–24	47,568	27.89	8767	18.43	9476	19.00
25–29	64,937	38.08	10,587	16.30	11,006	16.88
30 and above	52,802	30.96	7988	15.13	7904	16.15
Mother education							<0.001
Higher	27,944	16.38	3692	13.68	4271	13.61
Secondary	90,113	52.84	14,808	16.43	15,481	17.50
Primary	20,553	12.05	3832	18.64	3984	20.11
No education	31,937	18.73	6119	19.16	5934	19.68
Wealth index							<0.001
Richest	27,629	16.20	3974	14.38	4698	14.43
Richer	31,774	18.63	4887	15.38	5543	16.14
Middle	34,536	20.25	5477	15.86	5766	16.97
Poorer	38,184	22.39	6624	17.35	6596	18.97
Poorest	38,424	22.53	7489	19.49	7067	20.69
Sex of child							<0.001
Male	91,662	53.75	14,219	15.51	14,725	16.09
Female	78,885	46.25	14,232	18.04	14,945	19.08
Birth Status							<0.001
Singleton	168,926	99.05	27,489	16.27	28,606	17.01
Multiple	1621	0.95	962	59.35	1064	63.18
ANC visit							<0.001
No	8252	4.84	1649	19.98	1735	20.60
1 to 3	57,095	33.48	10,228	17.91	10,369	18.72
4 or above	105,200	61.68	16,574	15.75	17,566	16.57
Iron tablets/syrup intake during pregnancy							<0.001
Yes	151,912	89.07	24,852	16.36	26,064	17.21
No	18,635	10.93	3599	19.31	3606	19.58
Mode of birth							0.793
Normal	130,673	76.62	21,782	16.67	21,948	17.42
Caesarean section	39,874	23.38	6669	16.73	7722	17.60
Residential Status							<0.001
Rural	130,122	76.30	22,085	16.97	21,216	17.91
Urban	40,425	23.70	6366	15.75	8454	16.45