Association of Maternal Stature With Offspring Mortality, Underweight, and Stunting in Low- to Middle-Income Countries
Author(s)/Editor(s): Özaltin , Hill K, Subramanian SV
Publisher/Organizer: JAMA
Publication date: 2010
Number of pages: 10
Language: English
Overview
Although maternal stature has been associated with offspring mortality and health, the extent to which this association is universal across developing countries is unclear.
The mean response rate across surveys in the mortality data set was 92.8%. In adjusted models, a 1-cm increase in maternal height was associated with a decreased risk of child mortality (absolute risk difference [ARD], 0.0014; relative risk [RR], 0.988; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.987-0.988), underweight (ARD, 0.0068; RR, 0.968; 95% CI, 0.968-0.969), stunting (ARD, 0.0126; RR, 0.968; 95% CI, 0.967-0.968), and wasting (ARD, 0.0005; RR, 0.994; 95% CI, 0.993-0.995). Absolute risk of dying among children born to the tallest mothers (≥160 cm) was 0.073 (95% CI, 0.072-0.074) and to those born to the shortest mothers (<145 cm) was 0.128 (95% CI, 0.126-0.130). Country-specific decrease in the risk for child mortality associated with a 1-cm increase in maternal height varied between 0.978 and 1.011, with the decreased risk being statistically significant in 46 of 54 countries (85%) ({alpha} = .05).