Infant and young child feeding practices are associated with childhood anaemia and stunting in sub-Saharan Africa

BMC Nutrition

Table 2 Sociodemographic characteristics and health and nutrition indicators for the study sample population, by country^a

	Angola	Benin	Burkina Faso	Burundi	Cameron	Cote d'Ivoire	DRC	Ethiopia	Ghana	Guinea	Lesotho
Year of survey	2015	2011	2010	2016	2011	2011	2013	2016	2014	2012	2014
Household
Household size (#)	6.2 ± 2.8	6.5 ± 3.2	7.5 ± 3.8	5.7 ± 2.1	7.9 ± 4.2	7.8 ± 4.5	6.8 ± 3.0	5.9 ± 2.1	5.5 ± 2.6	8.5 ± 4.5	6.0 ± 2.5
Household head
Male (Yes)	71.2	85.5	91.3	79.2	85.9	84.4	78.6	87.0	75.8	85.5	70.8
Attained at least secondary education (Yes)	53.9	21.8	5.9	12.9	42.1	21.2	70.6	13.5	66.6	20.3	36.3
Access to improved water source (Yes)^b	38.5	67.2	72.2	78.3	60.4	59.0	40.5	50.2	63.3	69.8	62.3
Access to improved sanitation (Yes)^c	61.7	31.9	23.5	52.2	53.1	42.0	38.8	9.8	66.2	36.8	69.9
Wealth tertiles^d
Low	38.5	45.7	40.8	42.4	48.1	43.0	45.4	43.9	43.3	46.9	41.5
Middle	18.0	21.7	23.4	22.0	19.0	21.2	18.7	23.3	19.7	19.6	25.2
Highest	43.5	32.5	35.8	35.6	32.9	35.8	35.9	32.9	37.1	33.5	33.3
Female caregiver
Age (y)
15 to 24	41.7	24.6	33.2	25.6	39.7	37.7	32.1	27.9	25.2	35.3	51.5
24 to 49	58.3	75.4	66.8	74.4	60.3	62.3	67.9	72.1	74.8	64.7	48.6
Attained at least secondary education (Yes)	33.2	14.2	5.5	11.4	34.0	9.7	39.1	7.6	53.0	10.9	56.6
Child
Had diarrhea in past 2 wk (Yes)	26.1	13.3	23.1	37.8	33.8	27.2	31.2	19.4	16.1	23.0	23.5
Had fever in past 2 wk (Yes)	20.1	16.3	30.5	47.9	35.3	34.6	37.7	20.1	15.5	37.5	19.9
Vitamin A in past 6 mo (Yes)	0.0	50.2	67.4	72.4	51.7	61.7	68.7	42.7	70.1	38.1	72.5
Iron supplement in past 7 d (Yes)	11.1	39.3	8.3	7.7	9.9	16.5	15.6	7.8	22.9	10.1	0.0
Anaemia (Yes)^e	78.7	67.4	94.2	69.3	73.6	86.5	68.1	72.0	77.7	85.1	61.0
Stunted (Yes)^f	37.6	37.8	30.6	52.9	27.5	27.2	34.0	32.9	14.6	22.5	29.2
CAS (Yes)^g	29.5	25.0	29.1	36.8	21.3	23.8	22.6	24.1	12.0	19.9	20.8

	Madagascar	Malawi	Mali	Mozambique	Namibia	Niger	Rwanda	Senegal	South Africa	Tanzania	Zimbabwe
Year of survey	2008	2016	2012	2011	2013	2012	2014	2017	2016	2015	2015
Household
Household size (#)	6.0 ± 2.5	5.3 ± 2.0	7.2 ± 3.5	5.8 ± 2.4	6.7 ± 3.3	7.6 ± 3.7	5.1 ± 1.8	14.3 ± 8.5	6.3 ± 3.0	7.2 ± 4.4	5.5 ± 2.4
Household head
Male (Yes)	85.5	72.5	92.1	72.3	47.3	85.7	80.6	74.0	45.7	82.9	62.7
Attained at least secondary education (Yes)	22.7	35.7	10.5	19.3	62.5	6.8	11.3	17.1	86.0	18.2	75.6
Access to improved water source for drinking (Yes)^b	31.3	80.0	57.8	40.1	71.0	63.1	65.1	46.2	60.9	47.0	64.4
Access to improved sanitation (Yes)^c	5.3	81.0	37.4	19.6	35.9	19.0	69.6	66.4	68.9	69.4	58.1
Wealth tertiles^d
Low	49.1	44.9	48.3	44.0	47.3	47.6	36.9	46.4	47.0	45.4	47.4
Middle	19.4	20.5	19.9	18.4	19.6	21.4	21.9	19.3	20.7	18.8	17.7
Highest	31.5	34.7	31.8	37.6	33.1	31.0	41.2	34.3	32.3	35.8	34.9
Female caregiver
Age (y)
15 to 24	42.2	45.3	32.3	39.6	35.8	27.6	25.0	29.7	34.6	37.7	36.9
24 to 49	57.9	54.7	67.7	60.4	64.2	72.4	75.0	70.3	65.4	62.3	63.1
Attained at least secondary education (Yes)	20.6	23.1	9.1	12.0	72.2	6.4	13.7	18.1	90.0	17.3	65.7
Child
Had diarrhoea in past 2 wk (Yes)	16.2	37.3	13.4	18.3	35.1	28.0	21.9	27.8	18.8	21.5	30.9
Had fever in past 2 wk (Yes)	14.5	36.9	13.6	17.2	33.2	22.8	25.1	28.5	26.1	22.6	17.5
Vitamin A in past 6 mo (Yes)	43.2	67.6	53.0	69.6	86.5	60.4	82.4	57.4	78.9	43.1	76.5
Iron supplement in past 7 d (Yes)	1.6	11.4	18.7	21.0	0.0	10.5	0.0	2.9	0.0	1.4	0.0
Anaemia (Yes)^e	62.4	80.9	88.6	79.3	63.8	86.4	52.2	83.6	68.7	75.3	55.7
Stunted (Yes)^e	48.2	32.9	30.5	41.5	17.9	38.9	37.0	16.3	33.3	32.2	26.4
CAS (Yes)^g	31.2	27.3	27.5	34.3	11.3	33.6	18.6	14.4	25.7	24.6	14.9

DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo, CAS co-occurrence of anaemia and stunting
^aSample includes only households with complete data on children’s height, age, and haemoglobin level. Values represent mean ± standard deviation or percentage
^bImproved water source: piped household water connection, public standpipe, borehole, protected dug well, protected spring and rainwater
^cImproved sanitation: ventilated improved pit latrines and pit latrines with a slab or covered pit.
^dWealth quintiles were calculated from an asset-based wealth index using assigned asset weights from a principal components analysis to create standardized asset scores.
^eAnemia:hemoglobin concentration of < 110 mmol/L.
^f Stunted: length/height-for-age Z-score < –2
^gCAS: haemoglobin level < 11.0 mmol/L and length/height-for-age Z-score < -2

ISSN: 2055-0928