Modelling and forecasting spatio-temporal variation in the risk of chronic malnutrition among under-five children in
Justice Moses K Aheto1, Benjamin M Taylor1, Thomas J Keegan1
1Lancaster Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medicine, Lancaster University, Bailrigg, Lancaster LA1 4YB, United Kingdom.
Background:
Spatio-temporal variation in under-5-year-old children malnutrition remains unstudied in most developing countries like Ghana. This study explores and forecasts the spatio-temporal patterns in childhood chronic malnutrition among these children. We also investigate the effect of maternal education on childhood malnutrition.
Methods:
We analysed data on 10,036 children residing in 1516 geographic locations. A spatio-temporal model was fitted to the data and was used to produce predictive maps of spatio-temporal variation in the probability of stunting.
Results:
The study found substantial spatio-temporal variation in the prevalence of stunting. Also, higher levels of mother's education were associated with decreased risk of being stunted.
Conclusion:
Our spatio-temporal model captured variations in childhood stunting over place and time. Our method facilitates and enriches modelling and forecasting of future stunting prevalence to identify areas at high risk. Improving maternal education could be given greater consideration within an overall strategy for addressing childhood malnutrition.
More Related Videos
10:46A Method of Trigonometric Modelling of Seasonal Variation Demonstrated with Multiple Sclerosis Relapse Data
Published on: December 9, 2015
08:10Neuroimaging Field Methods Using Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy NIRS Neuroimaging to Study Global Child Development: Rural Sub-Saharan Africa
Published on: February 2, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Statistical Methods for Analyzing Epidemiological Data
What is Climate?
Steps in Outbreak Investigation
Modeling with Differential Equations
Causality in Epidemiology
Mechanistic Models: Compartment Models in Individual and Population Analysis
