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The timing of growth faltering has important implications for observational analyses of the underlying determinants of nutrition outcomes

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  • Harold Alderman
  • Derek Headey

Abstract

Background: Growth faltering largely occurs in the first 23 months after birth and is thought to be largely determined by various harmful or protective socioeconomic conditions. Children 23 months or younger, however, have only been partially exposed to these conditions, implying that statistical associations between these conditions and child growth may be substantially smaller in samples that include younger children. Objectives: To test the prediction that associations between child anthropometric outcomes and various socioeconomic conditions are systematically different for older and younger children. Methods: We analyzed data for 699,421 children aged 0–59 months, drawn from 125 DHS implemented between 1992 and 2014 in 57 countries. The outcome variables were height-for-age Z scores (HAZ) and stunting (HAZ

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  • Harold Alderman & Derek Headey, 2018. "The timing of growth faltering has important implications for observational analyses of the underlying determinants of nutrition outcomes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0195904
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0195904
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    10. Headey, Derek & Hoddinott, John & Ali, Disha & Tesfaye, Roman & Dereje, Mekdim, 2015. "The Other Asian Enigma: Explaining the Rapid Reduction of Undernutrition in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 749-761.
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    2. Derek Headey & David Stifel & Liangzhi You & Zhe Guo, 2018. "Remoteness, urbanization, and child nutrition in sub‐Saharan Africa," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(6), pages 765-775, November.
    3. Derek Headey & Kalle Hirvonen & John Hoddinott, 2018. "Animal Sourced Foods and Child Stunting," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(5), pages 1302-1319.
    4. Björkman Nyqvist, Martina & Jayachandran, Seema & Zipfel, Céline, 2023. "A Mother’s Voice: Impacts of Spousal Communication Training on Child Health Investments," CEPR Discussion Papers 17916, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Bethelhem Legesse Debela & Esther Gehrke & Matin Qaim, 2021. "Links between Maternal Employment and Child Nutrition in Rural Tanzania," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(3), pages 812-830, May.
    6. Skoufias,Emmanuel & Vinha,Katja Pauliina, 2020. "Child Stature, Maternal Education, and Early Childhood Development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9396, The World Bank.
    7. Voth-Gaeddert, Lee E. & Fikru, Mahelet G. & Oerther, Daniel B., 2022. "Limited benefits and high costs are associated with low monetary returns for Guatemalan household investment in water, sanitation, and hygiene technologies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    8. Jesse K. Anttila-Hughes & Amir S. Jina & Gordon C. McCord, 2021. "ENSO impacts child undernutrition in the global tropics," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-8, December.
    9. Derek Headey & Giordano Palloni, 2019. "Water, Sanitation, and Child Health: Evidence From Subnational Panel Data in 59 Countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 729-752, April.
    10. Cummins, Joseph & Guo, Jingyan & Agarwal, Neha & Aiyar, Anaka & Jain, Vaishali & Bergmann, Andrew, 2024. "Caste Differences in Child Growth: Disentangling Endowment and Investment Effects," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Thiede, Brian C. & Gray, Clark, 2020. "Climate exposures and child undernutrition: Evidence from Indonesia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
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    13. Genova, Christian & Umberger, Wendy J. & Peralta-Sanchez, Maria-Alexandra & Newman, Suzie & Zeng, Di, 2021. "The Impact of Smallholder Vegetable Production on Rural Vietnamese Children’s Nutrition Outcomes," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315293, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Julia A. Behrman, 2020. "Mother’s Relative Educational Status and Early Childhood Height-for-Age z Scores: A Decomposition of Change Over Time," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(1), pages 147-173, February.
    15. Ameye, Hannah & De Weerdt, Joachim, 2020. "Child health across the rural–urban spectrum," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    16. Derek D. Headey & Marie T. Ruel, 2022. "Economic shocks predict increases in child wasting prevalence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
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