Table 3 Sociodemographic factors mediating the effect of maternal autonomy on child stunting.

Model	Covariates	OR (95% confidence interval)				p value
		Maternal autonomy
		Low (ref)	Moderate	p value	High
1	None^φ	1.00	0.89 (0.79, 1.01)	0.072	0.84 (0.73, 0.96)	0.011
2	Child’s age + sex^φ	1.00	0.91 (0.80, 1.03)	0.116	0.85 (0.74, 0.97)	0.020
3	Child’s age + sex + mother’s age^φ	1.00	0.90 (0.79, 1.02)	0.098	0.86 (0.75, 0.99)	0.031
4	Child’s age + sex + mother’s BMI^φ	1.00	0.90 (0.79, 1.02)	0.096	0.87 (0.75, 1.00)	0.043
5	Child’s age + sex + mother’s education level^φ	1.00	0.92 (0.81, 1.04)	0.199	0.89 (0.77, 1.02)	0.099
6	Child’s age + sex + current pregnancy status^φ	1.00	0.92 (0.80, 1.03)	0.120	0.85 (0.74, 0.98)	0.021
7	Child’s age + sex + family wealth index^φ	1.00	0.93 (0.83, 1.06)	0.289	0.91 (0.79, 1.05)	0.193
8	Child’s age + sex + area of residence^φ	1.00	0.93 (0.83, 1.06)	0.286	0.89 (0.77, 1.03)	0.103
9	Child’s age + sex + IFA^φ	1.00	0.90 (0.80, 1.02)	0.110	0.85 (0.74, 0.97)	0.020
10	Child’s age + sex + anthelmintic drugs^φ	1.00	0.91 (0.80, 1.03)	0.116	0.85 (0.74, 0.97)	0.020
11	All covariates mentioned above^φ	1.00	0.93 (0.82, 1.05)	0.226	0.94 (0.82, 1.09)	0.396
12	All covariates mentioned above except mother’s education level, family wealth index, and area of residence^φ	1.00	0.90 (0.79, 1.02)	0.087	0.87 (0.76, 1.01)	0.059
13	All covariates mentioned above except mother’s education level, family wealth index, and area of residence^‡	1.00	0.94 (0.83, 1.07)	0.343	0.81 (0.71, 0.93)	0.002

^φAdjusted for multilevel clustering using the standard enumeration area (SEA) and survey year (MDHS 2010–2015/16) variables. ^‡Adjusted for clustering using the SEA variable only. OR, odds ratio; BMI, body mass index; IFA, iron and folic acid supplementation; MDHS, Malawi Demographic and Health Survey; ref, reference category. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Significant p values are in boldface.

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