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Table 1 Means of HAZ and ECD scores and association between those by country

From: Physical growth: is it a good indicator of development in early childhood in low- and middle-income countries?

Country

Mean HAZ(a)

Mean ECD(b)

Correlation(c) [95% CI]

SMD(d) [95% CI]

Algeria

− 0.70

5.90

0.05 [0.02;0.08]

0.01 [− 0.02;0.04]

Bangladesh

− 1.90

5.67

0.21 [0.19;0.23]

0.14 [0.11;0.16]

Barbados

0.48

8.44

−0.03 [− 0.18;0.12]

− 0.02 [− 0.15;0.10]

Belize

− 0.93

7.24

0.15 [0.08;0.21]

0.05 [− 0.01;0.10]

Benin

− 1.59

5.31

0.18 [0.15;0.21]

0.07 [0.04;0.10]

Bhutan

−1.72

5.99

0.11 [0.07;0.15]

0.05 [0.01;0.10]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

0.35

7.40

0.06 [−0.00;0.12]

0.06 [0.02;0.11]

Burundi

− 2.36

4.35

0.22 [0.18;0.26]

0.12 [0.08;0.17]

Cambodia

−1.70

5.98

0.14 [0.09;0.19]

0.11 [0.06;0.16]

Cameroon

−1.36

5.56

0.23 [0.20;0.27]

0.09 [0.06;0.11]

Central African Republic

−1.96

4.74

0.11 [0.08;0.15]

0.07 [0.04;0.10]

Chad

−1.62

4.44

0.11 [0.08;0.14]

0.05 [0.02;0.07]

Congo

−1.30

4.80

0.10 [0.05;0.15]

0.06 [0.00;0.12]

Democratic Republic of Congo

−2.05

4.81

0.15 [0.12;0.18]

0.07 [0.04;0.10]

El Salvador

−0.89

6.41

0.15 [0.11;0.18]

0.08 [0.03;0.12]

Ghana

−1.43

6.00

0.20 [0.17;0.24]

0.13 [0.08;0.18]

Guinea Bissau

−1.38

5.12

0.14 [0.10;0.18]

0.07 [0.03;0.11]

Guyana

−0.55

7.43

0.20 [0.15;0.26]

0.09 [0.04;0.14]

Honduras

−1.36

5.98

0.15 [0.11;0.18]

0.02 [−0.02;0.06]

Iraq

−1.01

5.66

0.05 [0.03;0.07]

0.03 [0.01;0.06]

Jordan

−0.57

5.52

0.04 [0.00;0.08]

0.01 [− 0.07;0.09]

Kazakhstan

−0.15

6.80

0.05 [0.01;0.10]

0.02 [− 0.02;0.06]

Kenya

−1.47

5.64

0.16 [0.13;0.20]

0.08 [0.06;0.11]

Kosovo

−0.29

6.68

0.07 [−0.01;0.15]

0.01 [− 0.06;0.09]

Kyrgyzstan

−1.02

5.79

0.06 [0.01;0.11]

0.03 [− 0.02;0.09]

Lao

−2.18

6.38

0.16 [0.13;0.19]

0.07 [0.04;0.09]

Lebanon

−0.79

6.72

−0.02 [− 0.09;0.06]

0.01 [− 0.06;0.07]

Macedonia

− 0.07

7.56

0.15 [0.06;0.23]

0.13 [0.04;0.22]

Malawi

−1.79

5.30

0.09 [0.07;0.12]

0.04 [0.01;0.06]

Mali

−1.42

5.24

0.10 [0.07;0.12]

0.04 [0.02;0.07]

Mauritania

−1.29

5.51

0.16 [0.13;0.19]

0.08 [0.06;0.11]

Mexico

−0.81

6.55

0.08 [0.05;0.12]

0.04 [−0.01;0.10]

Moldova

−0.37

6.88

0.01 [−0.07;0.09]

−0.05 [− 0.13;0.03]

Mongolia

− 0.89

6.29

0.05 [0.01;0.09]

0.01 [−0.04;0.06]

Montenegro

0.37

7.44

0.12 [0.04;0.20]

0.05 [−0.02;0.13]

Nepal

−2.01

5.56

0.24 [0.20;0.28]

0.11 [0.06;0.15]

Nigeria

−1.78

5.69

0.36 [0.35;0.38]

0.10 [0.08;0.13]

Pakistan

−1.88

5.64

0.32 [0.30;0.33]

0.16 [0.15;0.17]

Palestine

−0.46

5.87

0.10 [0.07;0.14]

0.06 [0.03;0.10]

Paraguay

−0.32

6.42

0.15 [0.11;0.20]

0.04 [−0.03;0.10]

Rwanda

−1.71

5.54

0.17 [0.12;0.23]

0.06 [0.01;0.12]

Sao Tome and Principe

−0.92

5.43

0.17 [0.10;0.24]

0.11 [0.03;0.18]

Serbia

0.48

7.70

0.16 [0.10;0.22]

0.07 [0.01;0.14]

Sierra Leone

−2.12

4.64

0.12 [0.08;0.15]

0.06 [0.03;0.09]

St Lucia

0.09

7.85

0.05 [−0.15;0.24]

−0.04 [− 0.20;0.13]

Suriname

− 0.62

6.00

0.16 [0.09;0.22]

0.04 [−0.02;0.11]

Swaziland

−1.26

5.63

0.17 [0.11;0.23]

0.08 [0.02;0.14]

Thailand

−0.61

7.81

0.05 [0.01;0.08]

0.01 [−0.03;0.05]

Timor-Leste

−1.85

5.33

0.08 [0.01;0.15]

0.01 [−0.04;0.07]

Togo

−1.69

4.85

0.19 [0.15;0.24]

0.06 [0.01;0.11]

Trinidad and Tobago

0.06

8.16

0.04 [−0.06;0.13]

0.02 [−0.05;0.08]

Tunisia

−0.40

6.03

0.04 [−0.02;0.10]

0.00 [−0.06;0.06]

Turkmenistan

−0.67

6.85

0.09 [0.04;0.14]

0.07 [0.02;0.12]

Uganda

−1.31

5.51

0.14 [0.09;0.19]

0.06 [0.02;0.10]

Zimbabwe

−1.35

5.41

0.12 [0.09;0.15]

0.06 [0.03;0.09]

Median

−1.26

5.87

0.12

0.06

  1. (a)Height-for-age Z score: calculated using the WHO Anthro Version 3.2.2 software (2011)
  2. (b)Early childhood development index
  3. (c)Pearson correlation coefficient between HAZ and standardised ECD score
  4. (d)Standardised mean difference: calculated using a multiple linear regression predicting standardised ECD scores from HAZ taking into account child sex, child age, and household wealth index
  5. Bolded correlation coefficient/SMD: statistically significant