Table 6 Description of study variables
Variable category | Variable description | Measurement level | Coding and labelling |
|---|---|---|---|
Dependent variable (s) | |||
Stunting | A child was considered stunted if HAZ score was below -2SD, otherwise not | Dummy variables | 0 “Not stunted” 1 “Stunted” |
CIAF | A child was considered to have failure if he/she was suffering from any conventional indices of undernutrition, otherwise no failure | Dummy variables | 0 “No CIAF” 1 “Had CIAF” |
Independent variable(s) | |||
Child characteristics | |||
Sex | Whether a child is a male or female | Nominal | 0 “Male”, 1 “Female” |
Age | Age of a child in months | Categorical | 0 “0–11”, 1 “12–23”, 2 “24–35”. 3 “36–47”, 4 “48–59” |
Birth type | Whether birth was normal or caesarean | Nominal | 0 “Normal” 1 “Caesarean” |
Birth size | Whether size at birth was small, average or large | Ordinal | 0 “Small” 1 “Average” 2 “Large” |
Diarrhoea status | Whether a child had diarrhoea in three weeks or not | Dummy | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Fever | Whether a child had fever or not | Dummy | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Duration breastfed | Months a child was breastfed | Categorical | 0 “ < 6” 1 “6–12” 2 “13–24” 3 “25 + ” |
Twin | Whether a child was born as a twin or not | Dummy | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Birth order | The order to which a child was born | Ordinal | 0 “First–second”, 1 “third–fourth”, 2 “Fifth or more” |
Mother’s characteristics | |||
Age | Age of the mother in years | Categorical | 0 “15–24” 1 “25–34” 2 “35–49” |
Marital status | Mother’s current marital status | Nominal | 0 “ Single” 1 “Married” 2 “Separated/widowed” |
Number of births in 3 years | Total number of births in 3 years | Ordinal | 0 “None” 1 “Once” 2 “Twice or more” |
BMI | Maternal BMI in kg/m2 | Categorical | 0 “ < 18.5” 1 “18.5 + ” |
Decision making | Involved in making decisions on household purchases, visits and attending health services | Binary | 0 “Not participate” if does not participate in any of household purchase, health care and household visits 1 Participates” if involved in any of the mentioned three items |
Level of education | Mother’s level of education | Ordinal | 0 “Not educated” 1 “Primary” 2 “Secondary” 3 “University” |
Mother’s years of schooling | Number of years spent in school | Discrete | Any number from 0 to 16 |
Media access | Whether a mother reads magazines, listens to radio or watches television | Dummy | 0 “No” if she does not read magazines, watch television or listen to radio; otherwise 1 “Yes” |
Place of delivery | Whether a mother had a home or health facility delivery | Nominal | 0 “Home” 1 “Health facility” |
Skilled birth attendant | Whether a mother was attended by skilled personnel or not | Dummy | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Prenatal service provider | Whether prenatal service was provided by skilled personnel or not | Dummy | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Age at first birth | Mother’s age at first birth in years | Categorical | 0 “ < 25”, 1 “25–30”, 2 “31 + ” |
ANC visits | Number of ANC visits during pregnancy | Categorical | 0 “ < 4 visits” 1 “At least 4 visits” |
Household characteristics | |||
Household size | Number of people living in the household | Discrete | |
Food insecurity | Problem in accessing food, not eating three meals a day, sleeping with hunger | Ordinal | 0 “Never”, 1 “Sometimes/seldom”, 2 “Often/always” |
Number of under-fives | Total number of under-five-year children in a household | Discrete | |
Area of residence | Whether a participant lives in rural or urban area | Nominal | 0 “Urban” 1 “Rural” |
Household head’s sex | Whether a household is headed by a male or female | Nominal | 0 “Male” 1 “Female” |
Household head’s age | Age of household head in years | Categorical | 0 “ < 20”, 1 “21–30”, 2 “31–40”, 3 “41–50″, 4 “”51 + ” |
SES | Nominal | ||
Wealth assets | Household wealth assets ownership variable(s) | Binary | 0 “Not own” 1 “Owns” |
Mother’s education | Mother’s level of education | Ordinal | 0 “Not educated” 1 “Primary” 2 “Secondary” 3 “University” |
Mother’s work status | Whether a mother is currently working or not | Binary | 0 “Not working” 1 “Currently working” |
Child mortality | Household had < 5 years death | Binary | 0 “No” 1 “Yes” |
Water, sanitation and hygiene | Presence of improved water or toilets | Binary | 0 “if water/toilets were not improved” 1 “if water/toilets were improved” |