Socio-economic and agricultural factors associated with stunting of under 5-year children: findings from surveys in mountains, dry zone and delta regions of rural Myanmar (2016-2017) - CORRIGENDUM.

Objective:The study's objective was to investigate multiple underlying social, economic and agricultural determinants of stunting among under-five children in three distinct ecological areas in rural Myanmar. Design:Repeated cross-sectional surveys in three states of Myanmar. Setting:Rural households in Chin (mountainous), Magway (plains) and Ayeyarwady (delta). Participants:From two purposively selected adjacent townships in each state, we randomly selected twenty villages and, in each village, thirty households with under-five children. Households in the first survey in 2016 were revisited in late 2017 to capture seasonal variations. Results:Stunting increased from 40 & BULL;4 % to 42 & BULL;0 %, with the highest stunting prevalence in Chin state (62 & BULL;4%). Univariate Poisson regression showed factors contributing to child stunting varied across the regions. Adjusted Poisson regression models showed that child's age and short maternal stature (aRR = 1 & BULL;14 for Chin, aRR = 1 & BULL;89 for Magway and aRR = 1 & BULL;86 for Ayeyarwady) were consistently associated with child stunting across three areas. For Chin, village-level indicators such as crop consumption (aRR = 1 & BULL;18), crop diversity (aRR = 0 & BULL;82) and land ownership (aRR = 0 & BULL;89) were significantly associated with stunting. In Magway, the number of household members (aRR = 1 & BULL;92), wealth status (aRR = 0 & BULL;46), food security status (aRR = 1 & BULL;14), land ownership (aRR = 0 & BULL;85) and in Ayeyarwady, women's decision-making (aRR = 0 & BULL;67) and indicators related to hygiene (aRR = 1 & BULL;13) and sanitation (aRR = 1 & BULL;45) were associated with stunting. Conclusions:Area-specific factors were associated with stunting. Maternal short stature and child age were consistent determinants of stunting. A multi-sectoral local approach, including improvements in transport, is needed to address the intergenerational malnutrition problem.