Description of variables
| Variables | Description |
|---|---|
| Underweight | Binary variable taking the value 1 if the child is underweight and 0 if not |
| Women employment | Respondent is currently employed (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Child's age | Child age in months grouped in 5 categories: 0–11 months; 12–23 months; 24–35 months; 36–47 months and 48–59 months |
| Sex of child | Binary variable taking the value “1” if the child is male and “0” otherwise |
| Birth order | Ordinal variable capturing the order in which a child is born |
| Twin | Child has a twin (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Illness during last two weeks | Children illness report during last two weeks (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Size of child at birth | Categorical variable taking the value, 1 if the child was smaller than the average size at birth, 2 if the child had an average size at birth, and 3 if the child was larger than the average at birth |
| Maternal education | Multinomial variable equals 0 if the individual has no education; 1 if primary education; 2 if secondary education and 3 if higher education |
| Maternal age | Maternal age in years grouped in 3 categories:15–24 years; 25–34 years and 35–49 years |
| Maternal Body Mass Index | Binary variable taking the value 1 if the mother is underweight and 0 if not |
| Maternal marital status | The variable is dichotomous, taking the value 1 if the woman is legally married or living with a man and 0 otherwise |
| Number of siblings | Continuous variable capturing the number of siblings within a household |
| Household wealth | The household wealth index, derived from DHS surveys, categorizes households into five quintiles based on cumulative living standards, ranging from the poorest to the wealthiest. For clarity, we recoded this index into four binary variables: “poorest” (reference category), “poorer” (1 for households in the poorer quintile, 0 otherwise), “middle” (1 for households in the middle quintile, 0 otherwise), and “richer” (1 for households in the richer or richest quintiles, 0 otherwise). This approach preserves the ordinal nature of the index while facilitating socioeconomic comparisons essential to the analysis |
| Place of residence: Urban | Respondent says she lives in a rural area (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Variables | Description |
|---|---|
| Underweight | Binary variable taking the value 1 if the child is underweight and 0 if not |
| Women employment | Respondent is currently employed (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Child's age | Child age in months grouped in 5 categories: 0–11 months; 12–23 months; 24–35 months; 36–47 months and 48–59 months |
| Sex of child | Binary variable taking the value “1” if the child is male and “0” otherwise |
| Birth order | Ordinal variable capturing the order in which a child is born |
| Twin | Child has a twin (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Illness during last two weeks | Children illness report during last two weeks (1 = yes; 0 = no) |
| Size of child at birth | Categorical variable taking the value, 1 if the child was smaller than the average size at birth, 2 if the child had an average size at birth, and 3 if the child was larger than the average at birth |
| Maternal education | Multinomial variable equals 0 if the individual has no education; 1 if primary education; 2 if secondary education and 3 if higher education |
| Maternal age | Maternal age in years grouped in 3 categories:15–24 years; 25–34 years and 35–49 years |
| Maternal Body Mass Index | Binary variable taking the value 1 if the mother is underweight and 0 if not |
| Maternal marital status | The variable is dichotomous, taking the value 1 if the woman is legally married or living with a man and 0 otherwise |
| Number of siblings | Continuous variable capturing the number of siblings within a household |
| Household wealth | The household wealth index, derived from DHS surveys, categorizes households into five quintiles based on cumulative living standards, ranging from the poorest to the wealthiest. For clarity, we recoded this index into four binary variables: “poorest” (reference category), “poorer” (1 for households in the poorer quintile, 0 otherwise), “middle” (1 for households in the middle quintile, 0 otherwise), and “richer” (1 for households in the richer or richest quintiles, 0 otherwise). This approach preserves the ordinal nature of the index while facilitating socioeconomic comparisons essential to the analysis |
| Place of residence: Urban | Respondent says she lives in a rural area (1 = yes; 0 = no) |