Socio-demographic covariates Sample Clauses

Socio-demographic covariates. Past studies indicate a strong socio-demographic patterning of child growth, though these relationships have been examined at the national level using data after 2005. We therefore sought to examine an array of potential socio-demographic correlates of child growth. In addition to being likely correlates of child growth, these socio-demographic factors are also associated with maternal decision-making, making them potential confounders of the primary associations of interest. Covariates of interest included: household income rank, religion, family caste, urban/rural, father’s education, mother’s education, mother’s BMI, mother’s age, mother’s age at marriage, and child age, sex, weight, and height. Mother’s and father’s education variables were categorized as none, 1-9th standard, 10-12th standard, and all education post-secondary or above. Religion was categorized into Hindu, Muslim, and all other minority groups such as Sikhism and Jainism were combined. Caste was categorized as general caste which included Brahmin, forward and other castes, other backward castes, scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes. Household income was categorized into quintiles for the analysis. Child age was normally distributed with a skewness of 0.15 and kurtosis of -1.05. Mother’s age, her age at marriage, and BMI were also fairly normally distributed with skewness of 0.92, kurtosis of 1.2, skewness of 0.39, kurtosis of 1.8, and skewness of 1.3, kurtosis of 4.8, respectively. We therefore treated these as continuous variables in the analysis.