Validation and Improvement of Child Undernutrition Risk Prediction Model Using National Family Health Survey - 5 Data from India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Validation and Improvement of Child Undernutrition Risk Prediction Model Using National Family Health Survey - 5 Data from India Binoy Shah, Justin Guerra, Nisha Fahey, Somashekhar Nimbalkar, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 11 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract More than a third of India’s children suffer from undernutrition, and despite nationwide efforts, India is projected to miss the Sustainable Development Goals targets for 2030. Worse, socioeconomic disparities have widened for these metrics. A data-driven prioritization effort may hold promise for more efficient and effective interventions. Data from nationwide assessment (NFHS-5) was used to evaluate performance of a predictive model previously developed by our team using NFHS-4 data. Model performance was assessed for discrimination (AUC) and calibration. Enhancements were explored using LASSO feature selection to refine predictors. A new model (Enhanced Model) was trained on NFHS-5 data using logistic regression, XGBoost, and neural networks. 51% of children in the analytical sample were undernourished as per the CIAF definition. Model A, trained on NFHS-4 data, showed moderate discrimination (AUC: 66.6%), high sensitivity (93.76%), and low specificity (21.58%), leading to many false positives and risk overestimation. The enhanced model achieved a slightly improved AUC (67.5%), accuracy (62.97%), sensitivity (66.31%) and specificity (58.82%). The updated predictive model trained on NFHS-5 data achieved modest improvements in accuracy and balanced sensitivity and specificity compared to the previously developed logistic regression model. Although machine learning methods are promising, the improvements over frequentist models remain incremental for the prognostic capability of single timepoint predictors. Health sciences/Biomarkers Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics Health sciences/Diseases Health sciences/Health care Health sciences/Medical research Health sciences/Risk factors Undernutrition Stunting Predictive algorithms Undernutrition prediction Machine learning Pediatric nutrition Child health Machine learning in health Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Introduction Child malnutrition and under-five mortality remain a pressing global public health issue, especially in developing nations [ 1 , 2 ]. India is one of the largest contributors to global malnutrition prevalence and under-five mortality [ 3 ]. According to the fifth round of the National Health and Family Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–2021), 32% of children under five are underweight (low weight for age), 36% are stunted (low height for age), and 19% suffer from wasting (low weight for height) [ 4 ]. Under-5 mortality has reduced from 50 to 42 per 1000 live births comparing NFHS 4 (2015–2016) and 5 [ 5 , 6 ]. Despite the declining trend in indicators, regional socioeconomic disparities have increased over time [ 7 , 8 ]. It has been well known that nutrition-related factors, though not a direct cause of death, predispose to and/or exacerbate conditions like infectious diseases that lead to premature death and hence remain a key barrier to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) 2030 target of under 5 mortality below 25 and the National Health Policy target of under 5 mortality below 23 per 1000 live births by the year 2025 [ 9 – 13 ]. Predictive algorithms and data-driven techniques have emerged as transformative tools in healthcare, aiding in exploring unknown relationships and patterns, thereby significantly improving public health outcomes [ 14 – 17 ]. These techniques help in identifying high-risk patients and optimizing resource allocation to improve the effectiveness of the health interventions and formulate effective strategies. Our team, using data from the fourth round of NFHS (NFHS-4, 2015-16), developed a logistic regression model to predict the risk of undernutrition in children under 5 years of age [ 18 ]. For simplicity's sake, we call this model "Model A." The predictors used in the study were identified via the integrated framework for child undernutrition and literature review [ 19 – 22 ]. The current study uses Model A as a baseline for comparison with new enhanced models. The objective of this study was to independently validate a predictive model developed by our team based on 2015-16 data from India on new data collected in 2019–2021 and assess whether new and more sophisticated machine learning models offer an improvement over baseline logistic regression models. More concretely, we applied a data-driven feature selection method based on LASSO regression [ 23 ] to automatically identify relevant features to incorporate into the new enhanced model. We then compared the discrimination and calibration performance of the baseline (Model A) and enhanced models. The article is organized as follows: the methods section provides a description of the survey dataset, data preparation pipeline, and model derivation and evaluation; the results section presents the validation of the baseline model and feature comparison between baseline and enhanced models; the discussion section summarizes the study’s findings; and conclusions highlights its implications for the use of machine learning in public health. Methods Survey Description In 2022, the government of India released data from the fifth round of the NFHS (NFHS-5, 2019–2021). The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare commissions the Indian Institute of Population Science (Mumbai) to conduct the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which provides district-level estimates of population health and nutrition in India [ 6 ]. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided technical assistance and additional funding. A stratified two-stage sampling method was utilised for NFHS-5 using the 2011 Census as the sampling frame. The nationally representative data provides information for 707 districts, 28 states, and 8 union territories. 664,972 households were selected for the survey, out of which 653,144 were occupied, and 636,699 households successfully completed the interview (98% response rate). Data preparation Sample size For the study, we merged two datasets from NFHS-5, the household and children dataset, as per instructions from the Demographic and Health Surveys program website [ 24 ]. Figure 1 describes the process of derivation of the analytical sample. Children were excluded if they were not a part of the household surveyed, were not alive at the time of the survey, and had missing anthropometric data. We used data for 198,481 children out of the total surveyed children: first, to independently validate and evaluate the performance of Apurv Soni et al.'s logistic regression model (Model A); and second, to enhance the model via modern machine learning techniques to identify features impacting child undernutrition. Outcome variable We used the composite index of anthropometric failure, which defines undernutrition as a function of stunting, wasting, and underweight status, to identify child undernutrition. The model, first proposed by Peter Svedberg [ 25 ], and later modified by Nandy et. al., categorizes the children into 7 groups as shown in Table 1 [ 26 ]. We categorized children into two groups: with no anthropometric failure (CIAF group A) and with anthropometric failure/undernourished state (CIAF group B to Y). Table 1 Classification of children with anthropometric failure Group name Description Wasting Stunting Underweight A No failure No No No B Wasting only Yes No No C Wasting and underweight Yes No Yes D Wasting, stunting and underweight Yes Yes Yes E Stunting and underweight No Yes Yes F Stunting only No Yes No Y Underweight only No No Yes Predictor variables Prior to validation and feature selection, the missing values were imputed by sampling from a probability distribution fitted to the non-missing data. For categorical variables, one-hot encoding was applied to transform these values of these variables into separate binary columns to be potentially added in the machine learning model. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) selection method was applied to identify predictors that could impact child undernutrition. All of the features in the model were scaled prior to LASSO. Validation of Model A For the validation of Model A using the NFHS-5 data, the coefficients for the predictor variables used were from the previous paper by Apurv Soni et. al. [ 18 ]. Analysis We used LASSO regression to select potential features (variables or specific categories of variables) that could significantly impact CIAF. Two main strengths of using this approach are that it uses L1 regularization in order to shrink coefficients of less relevant variables and reduces multicollinearity [ 23 ]. The selected features were assessed by various machine learning models (e.g., XGBoost, neural networks, logistic regression) to show how well it predicts CIAF. Prior to this, in order to train and test these models rigorously and effectively, the dataset has been split into three parts: 33% training, 33% testing, and 34% validation sets. These machine learning models were assessed using Receiving Operator Curves (ROC) based on their respective performance metrics, such as Area Under the Curve (AUC), Sensitivity, and Specificity within the pROC R package [ 27 ]. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to determine the differences between observed and expected values for CIAF in children in order to test the calibration of Logistic Regression models [ 28 ]. For logistic regression, odds ratios were reported for each selected variable from LASSO and were used to assess the magnitude of a percentage of pediatric patients being classified with CIAF. The 95% confidence intervals are estimated based on taking the LASSO selected features and then running a logistic regression using the stats package [ 29 ]. Results In 2021, according to the composite index of anthropometric failure definition, more than half of the children included in the analytical sample were undernourished (102571, 51.68%). Among the undernourished children, more than half were male (52.49%), and more than three-fourths of the children were from rural regions (82.36%), and 41.54% had a birth weight of less than 2500 grams. Table 2 describes the characteristics of all children and undernourished children included in the analytical sample. Table 2 Characteristics of children in the analytical sample Overall Undernourished children (n = 102571) N % N % Number of children with CIAF 198,481 100.00% 102571 51.68% Child Factors Age in months (Mean, (SD)) 30.14 (17.20) 30.32 (16.93) Birthweight Missing = 18,654 Missing = 10.983 1800g or less 5350 2.98% 3,562 3.89% 1801 to 2500g 59,726 33.21% 34,484 37.65% more than 2500g 114,751 63.81% 53,542 58.46%% Sex Missing = 0 Missing = 0 Male 102,048 51.41% 53,836 52.49% Female 96,433 48.59% 48,735 47.51% Number of siblings Missing = 16,060 Missing = 9,511 0 or 1 132,738 72.76% 64,523 69.33% Two or more 49,683 27.24% 28,537 30.67% Fever Missing = 118 Missing = 64 Yes 25,033 87.38% 89,168 86.99% No 173,330 12.62% 13,339 13.01% Diarrhea Missing = 199 Missing = 107 Yes 13,790 6.95% 7,500 7.32% No 184,492 93.05% 94,964 92.68% Maternal characteristics Maternal age, in years (mean(SD)) 19.44 (3.72) 19.10 (3.61) Maternal Height Missing = 892 Missing = 494 5 feet 2 inches or taller 33,290 16.85% 12,814 12.55% 4 feet 8 inches to < 5 feet 2 inches 123,458 62.48% 62,522 61.25% < 4 feet 8 inches 40,851 20.67% 26,741 26.20% Maternal BMI (kg/m2) Missing = 1,144 Missing = 634 = 25 35,616 18.05% 13,988 13.72% Maternal education Missing = 0 Missing = 0 No formal education 42,924 21.63% 26,599 25.93% Primary (1–7 years of schooling) 39,865 20.09% 22,675 22.11% Secondary school (> 7–10) 61,709 31.09% 31,132 30.35% High Secondary or more (> 10) 53,983 27.20% 22,165 21.61% Mothers age Missing = 0 Missing = 0 = 35 years 19,597 9.87% 10,148 9.89% ANC Visits Missing = 48,661 Missing = 26,482 No visits 9,537 6.37% 5,218 6.86% 1 to 3 visits 52,982 35.56% 28,212 37.08% 4 or more visits 87,301 58.27% 42,659 56.06% Socio-demographic characteristics Location Missing = 0 Missing = 0 Urban 39,820 20.06% 18,093 17.64% Rural 158,661 79.94% 84,478 82.36% Caste Missing = 1,095 Missing = 605 None 41,084 20.81% 18,483 18.13% Other backward caste 73,517 37.25% 38,034 37.30% Scheduled tribe 41,188 20.87% 22,403 20.87% Scheduled caste 41,597 21.07% 23,046 21.07% Religion Missing = 0 Missing = 0 Hindu+ 151,283 76.22% 78,204 76.24% Muslim 27,838 14.03% 15,007 14.63% Christian 16,832 8.48% 8,105 7.90% Other 2,528 1.27% 1,255 1.22% Wealth quintile Missing = 0 Missing = 0 1 - Poorest 53,509 26.96% 33,488 26.96% 2 - Poorer 46,516 23.44% 25,618 23.44% 3 - Middle 38,738 19.52% 38,738 19.52% 4 - Richer 33,526 16.89% 33,536 16.89% 5 - Richest 26,198 13.20% 26,198 13.20% Nutritional characteristics Started Breastfeeding Missing = 9,304 Missing = 4,566 Within first hour 148,498 78.50% 77,592 79.17% After 1 hour 40,679 21.50% 20,413 20.83% Still breastfed Missing = 39,368 Missing = 21,611 Yes 93,866 58.99% 49,308 60.90% Anemia Missing = 23,480 Missing = 11,626 Severe 3,778 2.16% 2,287 2.51% Moderate 63,070 36.04% 35,831 39.40% Mild 50,269 28.72% 26,256 28.87% Not anemic 57,884 33.08% 26,571 29.22% Validation of Model A From the previous paper from Apurv Soni et al., we have validated the previous logistic regression model with the same coefficients within the NFHS-5 (2019–2021). Model A achieved an accuracy of 58.88% (CI: 58.67% − 59.10%) with a sensitivity of 93.76% and specificity of 21.58%. The area under the curve from the ROC plot (Fig. 2 A) was 66.6% (95% CI 66.4% − 66.9%), which corresponds to a moderate discrimination ability of the model. Hosmer Lemeshow test shows a consistent overprediction of risk as we move to higher decile groups (Table 3 ), which can also be seen in calibration plot (Fig. 2 C). Table 3 Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit table for distribution of observed CIAF prevalence vs predicted prevalence across decile risk groups for undernutrition Model A (Old Model) Enhanced Model Decile Risk N Observed CIAF % Predicted CIAF % N Observed CIAF % Predicted CIAF % 1 15796 26.43 34.08 6550 27.21 28.02 2 17329 40.08 51.81 6550 36.34 36.44 3 18049 47.01 62.47 6550 41.45 41.60 4 18787 50.84 70.39 6549 46.19 45.88 5 18777 56.44 76.73 6550 48.06 49.78 6 19208 58.63 81.96 6550 54.66 53.55 7 19311 60.54 86.39 6549 58.12 57.32 8 19094 66.08 90.28 6550 60.72 61.49 9 19374 67.03 93.83 6550 67.50 66.53 10 18497 77.09 97.41 6550 76.79 74.42 Development of enhanced model using Lasso selection After imputation and one-hot encoding, LASSO identified 59 features from the dataset that could be potential risk factors for child undernutrition. The model achieved an accuracy of 62.69% (CI: 62.32% − 63.06%) with a sensitivity of 66.1% and specificity of 58.8%. The area under the curve from the ROC plot (Fig. 2 B) was 67.5% (95% CI 67.1% − 67.9%), which corresponds to a moderate discrimination ability of the model and a marginal improvement over Model A. Hosmer Lemeshow test showed a consistently precise prediction of risk across all decile groups (Table 3 ), which can also be seen in calibration plot (Fig. 2 D). Feature comparison: Model A vs Enhanced Model In the Enhanced Model, most of the selected features by LASSO were similar to the old model, but new features were also introduced into the model like severe child anemia, pregnant mother’s body mass index (BMI) < 18.5, anganwadi support, etc. However, there are features that were selected from LASSO that were in model A with different beta coefficients and odd ratios like Birthweight with 1800g or less & 1801g − 2500g, Mother’s height 5 feet 2 inches or higher & less than 4 feet 8 inches or lower, use soap after toilet use, etc. The odds ratios and coefficients for features selected by LASSO are shown in Table 4 . Table 4 LASSO Coefficients & Confidence Intervals Odds Ratio 95% Confidence Interval Beta Coefficients Lower Limit Upper Limit Child Age 1.002 1.001 1.004 0.002 Still Breastfed 1.093 1.061 1.144 0.089 ICFI Bottlefeed Score 1.057 1.016 1.104 0.055 ICFI Lentils Score 0.921 0.854 0.975 -0.081 ICFI Milk Score 0.950 0.904 0.990 -0.051 ICFI Meat Score 1.018 0.900 1.216 0.018 ICFI Eggs Fish Score 1.091 1.039 1.186 0.087 ICFI Other Fruits Score 0.994 0.931 1.042 -0.006 BF Start 0.953 0.913 0.988 -0.048 Water Source 1.084 1.054 1.139 0.081 Water Treatment 0.999 0.961 1.032 -0.001 Total Children Born 1.010 0.988 1.031 0.010 Sibling under 5 1.001 0.971 1.031 0.001 Number of Brothers 1.070 1.049 1.095 0.068 Mother took medications for intestinal parasites during pregnancy 1.004 0.972 1.044 0.004 Lives in a rural area 0.928 0.878 0.963 -0.075 Water at home 0.968 0.928 1.004 -0.032 Home has a roof 0.969 0.918 1.010 -0.031 Use Soap after toilet use 0.935 0.897 0.971 -0.067 # of months that a mother taken iron supplement during pregnancy 0 months 0.999 0.942 1.046 -0.001 1 month or less 0.960 0.913 0.999 -0.040 3 + months 1.004 0.968 1.045 0.004 6 + months 1.012 0.972 1.065 0.012 Mean District CIAF 40% − 49.9% 1.279 1.273 1.488 0.246 50% − 59.9% 1.650 1.641 1.912 0.501 60% − 69.9% 2.139 2.125 2.482 0.760 70% − 79.9% 2.854 2.803 3.385 1.049 80% − 89.9% 3.959 3.467 5.525 1.376 Wealth Quintile 1 - Poorest 1.111 1.054 1.177 0.105 2 - Poorer 1.031 0.985 1.090 0.031 4 - Richer 0.922 0.870 0.970 -0.082 5 - Richest 0.831 0.776 0.884 -0.185 Pregnant Mother’s Body Mass Index BMI = 25 0.724 0.691 0.756 -0.323 Number of household adults 1 or less 0.970 0.876 1.045 -0.031 3 or more 0.952 0.912 0.983 -0.050 Number of household members 9 or more 1.053 1.012 1.113 0.052 Child Anemia 1 - Severe 1.347 1.222 1.536 0.298 2 - Moderate 1.116 1.078 1.164 0.110 4 - Not anemic 0.858 0.824 0.891 -0.153 Number of Siblings 2 1.003 0.962 1.055 0.003 4 or more 1.024 0.938 1.151 0.024 Birthweight 1800 g or less 1.786 1.613 2.062 0.580 1801 g − 2500 g 1.164 1.085 1.270 0.152 > 2500 g 0.855 0.793 0.928 -0.152 Caste None 0.863 0.825 0.905 -0.147 Scheduled Tribe 1.012 0.970 1.080 0.012 Scheduled Caste 1.066 1.028 1.124 0.064 Religion Muslim 1.187 1.135 1.257 0.172 Christian 0.963 0.887 1.027 -0.037 Other 0.947 0.798 1.086 -0.054 Anganwadi Support Yes 1.036 1.000 1.075 0.036 Antenatal Visits during pregnancy 4 or more visits 1.034 1.003 1.074 0.033 Mother’s Education No Education 1.134 1.081 1.194 0.126 Primary Education 1.088 1.043 1.145 0.084 High Secondary or College 0.898 0.861 0.942 -0.108 Mother’s height 5 feet 2 inches or higher 0.725 0.690 0.755 -0.322 Less than 4 feet 8 inches or lower 1.623 1.562 1.699 0.483 Mother’s age category 35 + years 0.972 0.906 1.024 -0.029 Discussion The analytical sample included in the study had an undernutrition prevalence 51.58%. Both the models had a moderate discrimination ability based on the ROC plot (Model A − 66.6%; Enhanced Model − 67.5%), but the accuracy of prediction was higher by the enhanced model. Model A had a high sensitivity but low specificity which leads to false positives, seen as overestimation of risk from calibration plot and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit table. In the lowest risk group, 34% children are undernourished based on Model A, while 28% are undernourished according to the enhanced model. The proportion of undernourished children increases as we move to higher risk groups. Model A was trained and tested on NFHS − 4 data, while the enhanced model used NFHS-5 data for training, testing and validation. This could be the reason for low calibration and overestimation of risk of undernutrition by Model A when independently evaluated using NFHS − 5 data. The lack of external validation is a major issue which impacts the real-life performance of predictive models such as these. For this reason, the models must be updated periodically with new data. Leveraging machine learning techniques can effectively automate the model update process, enhancing performance by identifying features and patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. Nonetheless, both the models have comparable predictive performance, which shows the efficiency of manually building regression models for predictive purposes using clinical expertise when compared to data-driven machine learning techniques for model building. The addition of new features in the enhanced model seems to result only in a higher calibration performance, i.e. fewer false positives. Risk prediction models have been used by the clinicians and the governments to allocate resources for high-risk groups, which improves overall healthcare outcomes and reduces healthcare costs. This also aids in making healthcare more equitable rather than equal. For this study, we used cross-sectional data, which limits us to predict the risk of undernutrition at a single point in time. For predicting risk over time, the models would need longitudinal data, which would help clinicians assess the change in risk over time as the child ages. Using longitudinal data to predict risk in real time would also help us to identify regional variability in undernutrition risk and factors affecting undernutrition in different regions and at different ages and allocate resources accordingly. This is important when applying these predictive models in low resource settings. As the NFHS-5 was a cross-sectional survey, the main issue is that the study is based on self-reported data. Despite trained research staff maintaining the data quality of the study, there could be potential issues with recall bias in the survey responses. Another challenge with working on cross-sectional surveys is the frequency of missing information being contained within the data. Imputation algorithms such as Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE) or imputing values based on a probability distribution is a way to tackle these problems, however it may introduce bias within the data. Conclusion Our study shows that manual model building driven by expert knowledge can be effective to generate models that are generalizable from training data to new data. However, this manual approach may only be applicable for cross-sectional data. Automated, data-driven methods are likely needed when longitudinal data is used for more dynamic model building and updating. This has important implications in our study, as undernutrition risk prediction will remain of moderate discrimination as long as models are restricted to cross-sectional data. Incorporating such longitudinal data will be key to arrive at a model of increased accuracy, but this would also require more advanced model building and updating methods. Declarations Ethical Declaration This secondary analysis uses data where subjects cannot be identified directly or through identifiers. All methods were performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethics approval and consent to participate : This research uses publicly, anonymized data, so it does not require ethics approval nor consent to participate. All methods were performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Clinical trial number : Not applicable Consent for publication : This work is no-human subjects research so there is no need for consent for publication Availability of data and materials : All data can be obtained from the DHS program website (https://dhsprogram.com/) and the analysis scripts from GitHub (https://github.com/colabobio/child_undernutrition_risk_prediction_nhfs) Competing interests : The authors declare to have no competing interests Funding : None Authors' contributions : BS, JG: both the authors had equal contributions and would be sharing first authorship, data preparation and analysis, manuscript writing; NF, SN: conceptualization; AC: project lead, conceptualization, data preparation and analysis, manuscript writing; AS: project lead, conceptualization, manuscript revision Acknowledgements : Arnav Gupta for helping with initial data preparation and analyses References UNICEF DATA [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Child Mortality. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/ Levels and trends in child malnutrition: UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group joint child malnutrition estimates: key findings of the 2023 edition [Internet]. [cited 2024 Sep 11]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073791 UNICEF DATA [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Malnutrition in Children. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/ Tripathi S, Pathak VK, Lahariya C. Key findings from NFHS-5 India report: Observing trends of health indicators between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. J Family Med Prim Care. 2023 Sep;12(9):1759–63. IIPS/India II for PS, ICF. India National Family Health Survey NFHS-4 2015-16. 2017 Dec 1 [cited 2024 Dec 7]; Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-fr339-dhs-final-reports.cfm IIPS/India II for PS, ICF. India national family health survey NFHS-5 2019-21. 2022 Mar 15 [cited 2024 Dec 7]; Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR375-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm Jaiswal AK, Alagarajan M, Meitei WB. Survival among children under-five in India: a parametric multilevel survival approach. BMC Public Health. 2024 Apr 9;24:991. Soni A, Fahey N, Bhutta Z, Li W, Simas TM, Nimbalkar S, et al. Association of trends in child undernutrition and implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in India: A nationally representative serial cross-sectional study on data from 1992 to 2015. PLOS Medicine. 2022 Apr 8;19(4):e1003957. RMNCAH+N :: National Health Mission [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&level=1&sublinkid=794&lid=168 Caulfield LE, de Onis M, Blössner M, Black RE. Undernutrition as an underlying cause of child deaths associated with diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles123. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2004 Jul 1;80(1):193–8. Rice AL, Sacco L, Hyder A, Black RE. Malnutrition as an underlying cause of childhood deaths associated with infectious diseases in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78(10):1207–21. Pelletier DL, Frongillo EA, Schroeder DG, Habicht JP. The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 1995;73(4):443–8. Child mortality (under 5 years) [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/levels-and-trends-in-child-under-5-mortality-in-2020 Shifting machine learning for healthcare from development to deployment and from models to data | Nature Biomedical Engineering [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-022-00898-y Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Review and Prediction Case Studies - ScienceDirect [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809919301535 From machine learning to deep learning: Advances of the recent data-driven paradigm shift in medicine and healthcare - ScienceDirect [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262823000461 Bitew FH, Sparks CS, Nyarko SH. Machine learning algorithms for predicting undernutrition among under-five children in Ethiopia. Public Health Nutr. 25(2):269–80. Soni A, Fahey N, Ash A, Bhutta Z, Li W, Simas TM, et al. Predictive algorithm to stratify newborns at-risk for child undernutrition in India: Secondary analysis of the National Family Health Survey-4. J Glob Health. 2022 May 14;12:04040. Black RE, Victora CG, Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, Onis M de, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet. 2013 Aug 3;382(9890):427–51. Fenske N, Burns J, Hothorn T, Rehfuess EA. Understanding child stunting in India: a comprehensive analysis of socio-economic, nutritional and environmental determinants using additive quantile regression. PLoS One. 2013;8(11):e78692. Corsi DJ, Mejía-Guevara I, Subramanian SV. Risk factors for chronic undernutrition among children in India: Estimating relative importance, population attributable risk and fractions. Social Science & Medicine. 2016 May 1;157:165–85. Rah JH, Cronin AA, Badgaiyan B, Aguayo VM, Coates S, Ahmed S. Household sanitation and personal hygiene practices are associated with child stunting in rural India: a cross-sectional analysis of surveys. BMJ Open. 2015 Feb 12;5(2):e005180. Variable selection with LASSO regression for complex survey data - Iparragirre - 2023 - Stat - Wiley Online Library [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.umassmed.idm.oclc.org/doi/10.1002/sta4.578 The DHS Program - Merging Datasets [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/data/Merging-datasets.cfm Svedberg P. Poverty and Undernutrition: Theory, Measurement, and Policy. Oxford University Press; 2000. 394 p. Nandy S, Irving M, Gordon D, Subramanian SV, Smith GD. Poverty, child undernutrition and morbidity: new evidence from India. Bull World Health Organ. 2005 Mar;83(3):210–6. Robin X, Turck N, Hainard A, Tiberti N, Lisacek F, Sanchez J, Müller M (2011). “pROC: an open-source package for R and S+ to analyze and compare ROC curves.” BMC Bioinformatics, 12, 77. Surjanovic, N., Lockhart, R.A. & Loughin, T.M. A generalized Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test for a family of generalized linear models. TEST 33, 589–608 (2024). R: The R Stats Package [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/stats/html/00Index.html Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Feb, 2026 Reviews received at journal 30 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 30 Jan, 2026 Reviews received at journal 02 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Dec, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Dec, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 02 Dec, 2025 Editor invited by journal 28 Oct, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 25 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 25 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 24 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7943491","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":553971438,"identity":"437f7fc4-4096-4152-bcc6-c2c6b3ab39fd","order_by":0,"name":"Binoy Shah","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Binoy","middleName":"","lastName":"Shah","suffix":""},{"id":553971440,"identity":"800f8dad-7728-4596-a1a3-0874827821cc","order_by":1,"name":"Justin Guerra","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Justin","middleName":"","lastName":"Guerra","suffix":""},{"id":553971441,"identity":"c1efe501-a5f3-4879-b5b3-81d993137809","order_by":2,"name":"Nisha Fahey","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nisha","middleName":"","lastName":"Fahey","suffix":""},{"id":553971442,"identity":"3905d889-ce0b-492e-a1e0-025b21cb99e5","order_by":3,"name":"Somashekhar Nimbalkar","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bhaikaka University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Somashekhar","middleName":"","lastName":"Nimbalkar","suffix":""},{"id":553971443,"identity":"15b98174-1e48-4d81-8638-126e2c85beb3","order_by":4,"name":"Andres Colubri","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andres","middleName":"","lastName":"Colubri","suffix":""},{"id":553971444,"identity":"17c89f70-b666-4efa-a259-d47d23d78b82","order_by":5,"name":"Apurv Soni","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA80lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFADZuYDMKYBAwMbUVrYEkjVwsBjQJwW/tk9Zp95GOrkzNl5vkndqKmz121v3sDwoewwTi0Sd84Yz+ZhOGxs2cy7TTrn2OHEbWeOFTDOOIdbC8ONHGPGGQwHEjccBmlhO5BgdiPHgJm3DbcWeYiWOqAWnmfSOf/q7M3uvzFg/otHiwFQC8MHBmaQFjbp3DZmxm03eAyYGfFoMbxzrJjhg8FhY4PDbMbWuX0gv6QVHOw5l45Ti9zt5s0MCRV1cgbnDz+8nfMN6LDjhzc++FFmjdv7EmDnoQkewK0epmUUjIJRMApGAT4AAMaOU/euO/BLAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Apurv","middleName":"","lastName":"Soni","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-10-26 15:36:43","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":97433794,"identity":"37654357-4b50-4051-994d-8878660dc945","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":4428588,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"FullManuscriptrevisedforsubmission.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/86f1c42a18606ec1a152520f.docx"},{"id":97667773,"identity":"89c4040f-d739-49d1-b758-f3142f6c1248","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:24:14","extension":"json","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":7715,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"15031475454f462d8ee2275608f9b418.json","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/ff8c3dda60dbf40df665f61d.json"},{"id":97666642,"identity":"df7ae354-65d0-4a3b-8419-c1ff8414fc35","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:21:44","extension":"xml","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":128087,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"15031475454f462d8ee2275608f9b4181enriched.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/87ca2aa5d53efecb8838740b.xml"},{"id":97433783,"identity":"025f42a7-e47e-41b9-9a78-acb34c75a463","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"jpeg","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":1074,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/0584432c8ccbac3145246e55.jpeg"},{"id":97433792,"identity":"023007be-89c3-4baa-86a1-41e1cc9cd8f9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"jpeg","order_by":4,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":507623,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/792e5ea89d9813fabeb4348d.jpeg"},{"id":97668350,"identity":"5467d561-420a-4080-815e-f2414d3f0640","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:25:22","extension":"jpeg","order_by":5,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":64232,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"groupimage1.jpeg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/b991bd69a05344b2d2202809.jpeg"},{"id":97668269,"identity":"b9c2f8c5-53a5-455a-84cc-247fbd4867a4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:25:11","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":935,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/13c4d0d843356a551eb2081c.png"},{"id":97433788,"identity":"0bd4c921-2665-4ab0-bb1a-ec33d926ecc6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"png","order_by":7,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":87301,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinefloatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/d57fe99aebfeb7c3b7174010.png"},{"id":97433787,"identity":"39b11173-005f-4966-bd9e-bcc7ab2340e2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"png","order_by":8,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":39392,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Onlinegroupimage1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/3a16528620e152aad7fb6cdb.png"},{"id":97433793,"identity":"eff34ad0-1916-4090-9350-4688369a398e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"xml","order_by":9,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":128924,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"15031475454f462d8ee2275608f9b4181structuring.xml","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/f1fe74d74d84bf955d538f4f.xml"},{"id":97433790,"identity":"9a6e6249-e301-4340-be2f-8bd8457e07a9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"html","order_by":10,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"acdc-reference","size":136170,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"earlyproof.html","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/4baf95d554936f210196fc76.html"},{"id":97433782,"identity":"d14ce103-1d10-4c06-a3e6-241d06b2f637","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":34721,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDerivation of the analytical sample\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/dcc6a92681312b66fb8b31c8.png"},{"id":97433784,"identity":"70bdf656-523c-45ee-88e3-d9c7fb0ea5b3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-04 10:51:58","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":104338,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eROC and Caliberation plots for Model A and Enhanced Model\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/0b0350c082c7e438c808efa1.png"},{"id":97677471,"identity":"a3577dd0-aee5-4420-ba72-dd3884c32379","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-08 09:53:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1625294,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7943491/v1/606aa4d0-a8de-4575-ab58-aa925f034041.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Validation and Improvement of Child Undernutrition Risk Prediction Model Using National Family Health Survey - 5 Data from India","fulltext":[{"header":"Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eChild malnutrition and under-five mortality remain a pressing global public health issue, especially in developing nations [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e]. India is one of the largest contributors to global malnutrition prevalence and under-five mortality [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e]. According to the fifth round of the National Health and Family Survey (NFHS-5, 2019–2021), 32% of children under five are underweight (low weight for age), 36% are stunted (low height for age), and 19% suffer from wasting (low weight for height) [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e]. Under-5 mortality has reduced from 50 to 42 per 1000 live births comparing NFHS 4 (2015–2016) and 5 [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. Despite the declining trend in indicators, regional socioeconomic disparities have increased over time [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e7\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e8\u003c/span\u003e]. It has been well known that nutrition-related factors, though not a direct cause of death, predispose to and/or exacerbate conditions like infectious diseases that lead to premature death and hence remain a key barrier to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG3) 2030 target of under 5 mortality below 25 and the National Health Policy target of under 5 mortality below 23 per 1000 live births by the year 2025 [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR10 CR11 CR12\" citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e–\u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e13\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredictive algorithms and data-driven techniques have emerged as transformative tools in healthcare, aiding in exploring unknown relationships and patterns, thereby significantly improving public health outcomes [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR15 CR16\" citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e14\u003c/span\u003e–\u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e17\u003c/span\u003e]. These techniques help in identifying high-risk patients and optimizing resource allocation to improve the effectiveness of the health interventions and formulate effective strategies. Our team, using data from the fourth round of NFHS (NFHS-4, 2015-16), developed a logistic regression model to predict the risk of undernutrition in children under 5 years of age [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e]. For simplicity's sake, we call this model \"Model A.\" The predictors used in the study were identified via the integrated framework for child undernutrition and literature review [\u003cspan additionalcitationids=\"CR20 CR21\" citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e19\u003c/span\u003e–\u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e22\u003c/span\u003e]. The current study uses Model A as a baseline for comparison with new enhanced models.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe objective of this study was to independently validate a predictive model developed by our team based on 2015-16 data from India on new data collected in 2019–2021 and assess whether new and more sophisticated machine learning models offer an improvement over baseline logistic regression models. More concretely, we applied a data-driven feature selection method based on LASSO regression [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e] to automatically identify relevant features to incorporate into the new enhanced model. We then compared the discrimination and calibration performance of the baseline (Model A) and enhanced models.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe article is organized as follows: the methods section provides a description of the survey dataset, data preparation pipeline, and model derivation and evaluation; the results section presents the validation of the baseline model and feature comparison between baseline and enhanced models; the discussion section summarizes the study’s findings; and conclusions highlights its implications for the use of machine learning in public health.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Methods","content":"\u003cp\u003eSurvey Description\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 2022, the government of India released data from the fifth round of the NFHS (NFHS-5, 2019–2021). The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare commissions the Indian Institute of Population Science (Mumbai) to conduct the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which provides district-level estimates of population health and nutrition in India [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e]. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided technical assistance and additional funding.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA stratified two-stage sampling method was utilised for NFHS-5 using the 2011 Census as the sampling frame. The nationally representative data provides information for 707 districts, 28 states, and 8 union territories. 664,972 households were selected for the survey, out of which 653,144 were occupied, and 636,699 households successfully completed the interview (98% response rate).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eData preparation\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSample size\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the study, we merged two datasets from NFHS-5, the household and children dataset, as per instructions from the Demographic and Health Surveys program website [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e24\u003c/span\u003e]. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e describes the process of derivation of the analytical sample. Children were excluded if they were not a part of the household surveyed, were not alive at the time of the survey, and had missing anthropometric data. We used data for 198,481 children out of the total surveyed children: first, to independently validate and evaluate the performance of Apurv Soni et al.'s logistic regression model (Model A); and second, to enhance the model via modern machine learning techniques to identify features impacting child undernutrition.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOutcome variable\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe used the composite index of anthropometric failure, which defines undernutrition as a function of stunting, wasting, and underweight status, to identify child undernutrition. The model, first proposed by Peter Svedberg [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e25\u003c/span\u003e], and later modified by Nandy et. al., categorizes the children into 7 groups as shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e26\u003c/span\u003e]. We categorized children into two groups: with no anthropometric failure (CIAF group A) and with anthropometric failure/undernourished state (CIAF group B to Y).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eClassification of children with anthropometric failure\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eGroup name\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDescription\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWasting\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStunting\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnderweight\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eA\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo failure\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eB\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWasting only\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eC\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWasting and underweight\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eD\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWasting, stunting and underweight\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eE\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStunting and underweight\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eF\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eStunting only\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eY\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUnderweight only\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredictor variables\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrior to validation and feature selection, the missing values were imputed by sampling from a probability distribution fitted to the non-missing data. For categorical variables, one-hot encoding was applied to transform these values of these variables into separate binary columns to be potentially added in the machine learning model. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) selection method was applied to identify predictors that could impact child undernutrition. All of the features in the model were scaled prior to LASSO.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eValidation of Model A\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the validation of Model A using the NFHS-5 data, the coefficients for the predictor variables used were from the previous paper by Apurv Soni et. al. [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e18\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnalysis\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe used LASSO regression to select potential features (variables or specific categories of variables) that could significantly impact CIAF. Two main strengths of using this approach are that it uses L1 regularization in order to shrink coefficients of less relevant variables and reduces multicollinearity [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e23\u003c/span\u003e]. The selected features were assessed by various machine learning models (e.g., XGBoost, neural networks, logistic regression) to show how well it predicts CIAF.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrior to this, in order to train and test these models rigorously and effectively, the dataset has been split into three parts: 33% training, 33% testing, and 34% validation sets. These machine learning models were assessed using Receiving Operator Curves (ROC) based on their respective performance metrics, such as Area Under the Curve (AUC), Sensitivity, and Specificity within the pROC R package [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e27\u003c/span\u003e]. Hosmer-Lemeshow test was used to determine the differences between observed and expected values for CIAF in children in order to test the calibration of Logistic Regression models [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR28\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e28\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor logistic regression, odds ratios were reported for each selected variable from LASSO and were used to assess the magnitude of a percentage of pediatric patients being classified with CIAF. The 95% confidence intervals are estimated based on taking the LASSO selected features and then running a logistic regression using the stats package [\u003cspan citationid=\"CR29\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e29\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn 2021, according to the composite index of anthropometric failure definition, more than half of the children included in the analytical sample were undernourished (102571, 51.68%). Among the undernourished children, more than half were male (52.49%), and more than three-fourths of the children were from rural regions (82.36%), and 41.54% had a birth weight of less than 2500 grams. Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e describes the characteristics of all children and undernourished children included in the analytical sample.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharacteristics of children in the analytical sample\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOverall\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUndernourished children (n\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;102571)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of children with CIAF\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e198,481\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e100.00%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e102571\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e51.68%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChild Factors\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAge in months (Mean, (SD))\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.14 (17.20)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.32 (16.93)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBirthweight\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;18,654\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;10.983\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1800g or less\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5350\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.98%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3,562\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.89%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1801 to 2500g\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e59,726\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33.21%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34,484\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.65%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003emore than 2500g\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e114,751\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63.81%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53,542\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.46%%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSex\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMale\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e102,048\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e51.41%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53,836\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52.49%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eFemale\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e96,433\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48.59%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48,735\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47.51%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of siblings\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;16,060\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9,511\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0 or 1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e132,738\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e72.76%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64,523\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e69.33%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTwo or more\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49,683\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27.24%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28,537\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.67%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFever\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;118\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;64\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25,033\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e87.38%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e89,168\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.99%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e173,330\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.62%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13,339\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.01%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDiarrhea\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;199\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;107\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13,790\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.95%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7,500\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.32%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e184,492\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e93.05%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e94,964\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e92.68%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaternal characteristics\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaternal age, in years (mean(SD))\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.44 (3.72)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.10 (3.61)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaternal Height\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;892\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;494\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 feet 2 inches or taller\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33,290\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.85%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12,814\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e12.55%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 feet 8 inches to \u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;5 feet 2 inches\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e123,458\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e62.48%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e62,522\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e61.25%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;4 feet 8 inches\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40,851\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.67%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,741\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.20%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaternal BMI (kg/m2)\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1,144\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;634\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;18.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36,985\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.74%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23,012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22.57%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.5\u0026ndash;24.9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e124,736\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63.21%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e64,937\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63.70%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;= 25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35,616\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.05%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13,988\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.72%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaternal education\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo formal education\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e42,924\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.63%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,599\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25.93%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrimary (1\u0026ndash;7 years of schooling)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39,865\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.09%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22,675\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22.11%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSecondary school (\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;7\u0026ndash;10)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e61,709\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.09%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31,132\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.35%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigh Secondary or more (\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;10)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53,983\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27.20%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22,165\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.61%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMothers age\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;25 years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60,561\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e30.51%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e32,284\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e31.47%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25\u0026ndash;34 years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e118,323\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e59.61%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60,139\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.63%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;= 35 years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19,597\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.87%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10,148\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9.89%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eANC Visits\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;48,661\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;26,482\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo visits\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9,537\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.37%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5,218\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6.86%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 to 3 visits\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e52,982\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35.56%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28,212\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.08%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 or more visits\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e87,301\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.27%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e42,659\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.06%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocio-demographic characteristics\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLocation\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUrban\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39,820\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.06%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18,093\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17.64%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eRural\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e158,661\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.94%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e84,478\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e82.36%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaste\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;1,095\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;605\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNone\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e41,084\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.81%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18,483\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18.13%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther backward caste\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e73,517\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.25%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38,034\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e37.30%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eScheduled tribe\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e41,188\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.87%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e22,403\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.87%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eScheduled caste\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e41,597\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.07%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23,046\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.07%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReligion\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHindu+\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e151,283\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.22%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e78,204\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.24%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuslim\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27,838\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.03%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15,007\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e14.63%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16,832\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8.48%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8,105\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7.90%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2,528\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.27%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1,255\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.22%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWealth quintile\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;0\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 - Poorest\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53,509\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.96%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33,488\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.96%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 - Poorer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46,516\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23.44%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e25,618\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e23.44%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 - Middle\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38,738\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.52%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e38,738\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19.52%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 - Richer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33,526\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.89%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33,536\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e16.89%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 - Richest\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,198\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.20%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,198\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e13.20%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"5\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNutritional characteristics\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStarted Breastfeeding\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;9,304\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;4,566\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eWithin first hour\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e148,498\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e78.50%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e77,592\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e79.17%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter 1 hour\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40,679\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e21.50%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20,413\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e20.83%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStill breastfed\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;39,368\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;21,611\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e93,866\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.99%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49,308\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60.90%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnemia\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c3\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;23,480\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c5\" namest=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMissing\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;11,626\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eSevere\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3,778\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.16%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2,287\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.51%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eModerate\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e63,070\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36.04%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35,831\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e39.40%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMild\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50,269\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28.72%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,256\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28.87%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot anemic\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e57,884\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e33.08%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26,571\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e29.22%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eValidation of Model A\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the previous paper from Apurv Soni et al., we have validated the previous logistic regression model with the same coefficients within the NFHS-5 (2019\u0026ndash;2021). Model A achieved an accuracy of 58.88% (CI: 58.67% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;59.10%) with a sensitivity of 93.76% and specificity of 21.58%. The area under the curve from the ROC plot (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eA) was 66.6% (95% CI 66.4% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;66.9%), which corresponds to a moderate discrimination ability of the model. Hosmer Lemeshow test shows a consistent overprediction of risk as we move to higher decile groups (Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e), which can also be seen in calibration plot (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eC).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit table for distribution of observed CIAF prevalence vs predicted prevalence across decile risk groups for undernutrition\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"7\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eModel A (Old Model)\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnhanced Model\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eDecile Risk\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eObserved CIAF %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredicted CIAF %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eN\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eObserved CIAF %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePredicted CIAF %\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e15796\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e26.43\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e34.08\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e27.21\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e28.02\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e17329\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40.08\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e51.81\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36.34\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e36.44\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18049\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e47.01\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e62.47\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e41.45\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e41.60\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18787\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50.84\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e70.39\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6549\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e46.19\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e45.88\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18777\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e56.44\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.73\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e48.06\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e49.78\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19208\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.63\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e81.96\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e54.66\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e53.55\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e7\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19311\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60.54\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e86.39\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6549\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e58.12\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e57.32\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e8\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19094\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e66.08\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e90.28\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60.72\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e61.49\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e19374\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e67.03\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e93.83\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e67.50\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e66.53\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e10\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e18497\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e77.09\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e97.41\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6550\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e76.79\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e74.42\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDevelopment of enhanced model using Lasso selection\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter imputation and one-hot encoding, LASSO identified 59 features from the dataset that could be potential risk factors for child undernutrition. The model achieved an accuracy of 62.69% (CI: 62.32% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;63.06%) with a sensitivity of 66.1% and specificity of 58.8%. The area under the curve from the ROC plot (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eB) was 67.5% (95% CI 67.1% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;67.9%), which corresponds to a moderate discrimination ability of the model and a marginal improvement over Model A. Hosmer Lemeshow test showed a consistently precise prediction of risk across all decile groups (Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e), which can also be seen in calibration plot (Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003eD).\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFeature comparison: Model A vs Enhanced Model\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the Enhanced Model, most of the selected features by LASSO were similar to the old model, but new features were also introduced into the model like severe child anemia, pregnant mother\u0026rsquo;s body mass index (BMI)\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;18.5, anganwadi support, etc. However, there are features that were selected from LASSO that were in model A with different beta coefficients and odd ratios like Birthweight with 1800g or less \u0026amp; 1801g \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2500g, Mother\u0026rsquo;s height 5 feet 2 inches or higher \u0026amp; less than 4 feet 8 inches or lower, use soap after toilet use, etc. The odds ratios and coefficients for features selected by LASSO are shown in Table \u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e\u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLASSO Coefficients \u0026amp; Confidence Intervals\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/caption\u003e\u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOdds Ratio\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e95% Confidence Interval\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeta Coefficients\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/th\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/thead\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLower Limit\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eUpper Limit\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChild Age\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.002\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.002\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eStill Breastfed\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.093\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.061\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.144\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.089\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Bottlefeed Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.057\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.016\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.104\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.055\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Lentils Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.921\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.854\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.975\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.081\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Milk Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.950\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.904\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.990\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.051\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Meat Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.018\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.900\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.216\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.018\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Eggs Fish Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.091\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.039\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.186\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.087\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eICFI Other Fruits Score\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.994\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.931\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.042\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.006\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBF Start\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.953\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.913\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.988\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.048\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWater Source\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.084\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.054\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.139\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.081\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWater Treatment\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.999\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.961\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.032\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTotal Children Born\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.010\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.988\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.010\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eSibling under 5\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.971\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Brothers\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.070\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.049\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.095\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.068\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMother took medications for intestinal parasites during pregnancy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.972\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.044\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLives in a rural area\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.928\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.878\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.963\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.075\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWater at home\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.968\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.928\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.032\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHome has a roof\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.969\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.918\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.010\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eUse Soap after toilet use\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.935\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.897\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.971\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.067\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e# of months that a mother taken iron supplement\u0026nbsp; during pregnancy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0 months\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.999\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.942\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.046\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.001\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 month or less\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.960\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.913\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.999\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.040\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;months\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.968\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.045\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.004\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e6\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;months\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.972\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.065\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMean District CIAF\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e40% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;49.9%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.279\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.273\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.488\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.246\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e50% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;59.9%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.650\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.641\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.912\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.501\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e60% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;69.9%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.139\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.125\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.482\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.760\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e70% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;79.9%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.854\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.803\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.385\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.049\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e80% \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;89.9%\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.959\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3.467\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5.525\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.376\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWealth Quintile\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 - Poorest\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.111\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.054\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.177\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.105\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 - Poorer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.985\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.090\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 - Richer\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.922\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.870\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.970\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.082\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 - Richest\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.831\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.776\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.884\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.185\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePregnant Mother\u0026rsquo;s Body Mass Index\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBMI\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;18.5\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.277\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.225\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.336\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.245\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eBMI\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;25\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.724\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.691\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.756\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.323\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of household adults\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 or less\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.970\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.876\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.045\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.031\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e3 or more\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.952\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.912\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.983\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.050\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of household members\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e9 or more\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.053\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.113\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.052\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eChild Anemia\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1 - Severe\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.347\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.222\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.536\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.298\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2 - Moderate\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.116\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.078\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.164\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.110\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 - Not anemic\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.858\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.824\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.891\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.153\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNumber of Siblings\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.003\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.962\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.055\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.003\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 or more\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.024\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.938\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.151\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.024\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBirthweight\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1800 g or less\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.786\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.613\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e2.062\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.580\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1801 g \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2500 g\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.164\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.085\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.270\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.152\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;2500 g\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.855\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.793\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.928\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.152\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaste\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNone\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.863\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.825\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.905\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.147\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eScheduled Tribe\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.970\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.080\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.012\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eScheduled Caste\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.066\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.028\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.124\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.064\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eReligion\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eMuslim\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.187\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.135\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.257\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.172\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eChristian\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.963\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.887\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.027\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.037\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eOther\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.947\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.798\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.086\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.054\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnganwadi Support\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.000\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.075\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.036\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAntenatal Visits during pregnancy\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e4 or more visits\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.034\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.003\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.074\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.033\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMother\u0026rsquo;s Education\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eNo Education\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.134\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.081\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.194\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.126\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrimary Education\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.088\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.043\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.145\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.084\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigh Secondary or College\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.898\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.861\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.942\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.108\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMother\u0026rsquo;s height\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e5 feet 2 inches or higher\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.725\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.690\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.755\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.322\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eLess than 4 feet 8 inches or lower\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.623\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.562\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.699\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.483\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMother\u0026rsquo;s age category\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e35\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;years\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.972\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e0.906\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e1.024\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e-0.029\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/td\u003e\u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/tbody\u003e\u003c/colgroup\u003e\u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe analytical sample included in the study had an undernutrition prevalence 51.58%. Both the models had a moderate discrimination ability based on the ROC plot (Model A \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;66.6%; Enhanced Model \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;67.5%), but the accuracy of prediction was higher by the enhanced model. Model A had a high sensitivity but low specificity which leads to false positives, seen as overestimation of risk from calibration plot and Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit table. In the lowest risk group, 34% children are undernourished based on Model A, while 28% are undernourished according to the enhanced model. The proportion of undernourished children increases as we move to higher risk groups.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eModel A was trained and tested on NFHS \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4 data, while the enhanced model used NFHS-5 data for training, testing and validation. This could be the reason for low calibration and overestimation of risk of undernutrition by Model A when independently evaluated using NFHS \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5 data. The lack of external validation is a major issue which impacts the real-life performance of predictive models such as these. For this reason, the models must be updated periodically with new data. Leveraging machine learning techniques can effectively automate the model update process, enhancing performance by identifying features and patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. Nonetheless, both the models have comparable predictive performance, which shows the efficiency of manually building regression models for predictive purposes using clinical expertise when compared to data-driven machine learning techniques for model building. The addition of new features in the enhanced model seems to result only in a higher calibration performance, i.e. fewer false positives.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRisk prediction models have been used by the clinicians and the governments to allocate resources for high-risk groups, which improves overall healthcare outcomes and reduces healthcare costs. This also aids in making healthcare more equitable rather than equal. For this study, we used cross-sectional data, which limits us to predict the risk of undernutrition at a single point in time. For predicting risk over time, the models would need longitudinal data, which would help clinicians assess the change in risk over time as the child ages. Using longitudinal data to predict risk in real time would also help us to identify regional variability in undernutrition risk and factors affecting undernutrition in different regions and at different ages and allocate resources accordingly. This is important when applying these predictive models in low resource settings.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs the NFHS-5 was a cross-sectional survey, the main issue is that the study is based on self-reported data. Despite trained research staff maintaining the data quality of the study, there could be potential issues with recall bias in the survey responses. Another challenge with working on cross-sectional surveys is the frequency of missing information being contained within the data. Imputation algorithms such as Multivariate Imputation by Chained Equations (MICE) or imputing values based on a probability distribution is a way to tackle these problems, however it may introduce bias within the data.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eOur study shows that manual model building driven by expert knowledge can be effective to generate models that are generalizable from training data to new data. However, this manual approach may only be applicable for cross-sectional data. Automated, data-driven methods are likely needed when longitudinal data is used for more dynamic model building and updating. This has important implications in our study, as undernutrition risk prediction will remain of moderate discrimination as long as models are restricted to cross-sectional data. Incorporating such longitudinal data will be key to arrive at a model of increased accuracy, but this would also require more advanced model building and updating methods.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthical Declaration\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis secondary analysis uses data where subjects cannot be identified directly or through identifiers. All methods were performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval and consent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e: This research uses publicly, anonymized data, so it does not require ethics approval nor consent to participate. All methods were performed according to the Declaration of Helsinki.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eClinical trial number\u003c/strong\u003e: Not applicable\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent for publication\u003c/strong\u003e: This work is no-human subjects research so there is no need for consent for publication\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAvailability of data and materials\u003c/strong\u003e: All data can be obtained from the DHS program website (https://dhsprogram.com/) and the analysis scripts from GitHub (https://github.com/colabobio/child_undernutrition_risk_prediction_nhfs)\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e: The authors declare to have no competing interests\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e: None\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthors\u0026apos; contributions\u003c/strong\u003e: BS, JG: both the authors had equal contributions and would be sharing first authorship, data preparation and analysis, manuscript writing; NF, SN: conceptualization; AC: project lead, conceptualization, data preparation and analysis, manuscript writing; AS: project lead, conceptualization, manuscript revision\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e: Arnav Gupta for helping with initial data preparation and analyses\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUNICEF DATA [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Child Mortality. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLevels and trends in child malnutrition: UNICEF/WHO/World Bank Group joint child malnutrition estimates: key findings of the 2023 edition [Internet]. [cited 2024 Sep 11]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240073791\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUNICEF DATA [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Malnutrition in Children. Available from: https://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTripathi S, Pathak VK, Lahariya C. Key findings from NFHS-5 India report: Observing trends of health indicators between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5. J Family Med Prim Care. 2023 Sep;12(9):1759\u0026ndash;63.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIIPS/India II for PS, ICF. India National Family Health Survey NFHS-4 2015-16. 2017 Dec 1 [cited 2024 Dec 7]; Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-fr339-dhs-final-reports.cfm\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIIPS/India II for PS, ICF. India national family health survey NFHS-5 2019-21. 2022 Mar 15 [cited 2024 Dec 7]; Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/publications/publication-FR375-DHS-Final-Reports.cfm\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJaiswal AK, Alagarajan M, Meitei WB. Survival among children under-five in India: a parametric multilevel survival approach. BMC Public Health. 2024 Apr 9;24:991.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoni A, Fahey N, Bhutta Z, Li W, Simas TM, Nimbalkar S, et al. Association of trends in child undernutrition and implementation of the National Rural Health Mission in India: A nationally representative serial cross-sectional study on data from 1992 to 2015. PLOS Medicine. 2022 Apr 8;19(4):e1003957.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRMNCAH+N :: National Health Mission [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://nhm.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1\u0026amp;level=1\u0026amp;sublinkid=794\u0026amp;lid=168\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCaulfield LE, de Onis M, Bl\u0026ouml;ssner M, Black RE. Undernutrition as an underlying cause of child deaths associated with diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles123. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2004 Jul 1;80(1):193\u0026ndash;8.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRice AL, Sacco L, Hyder A, Black RE. Malnutrition as an underlying cause of childhood deaths associated with infectious diseases in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 2000;78(10):1207\u0026ndash;21.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePelletier DL, Frongillo EA, Schroeder DG, Habicht JP. The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries. Bull World Health Organ. 1995;73(4):443\u0026ndash;8.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChild mortality (under 5 years) [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/levels-and-trends-in-child-under-5-mortality-in-2020\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShifting machine learning for healthcare from development to deployment and from models to data | Nature Biomedical Engineering [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41551-022-00898-y\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eArtificial Intelligence in Healthcare: Review and Prediction Case Studies - ScienceDirect [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095809919301535\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFrom machine learning to deep learning: Advances of the recent data-driven paradigm shift in medicine and healthcare - ScienceDirect [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590262823000461\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBitew FH, Sparks CS, Nyarko SH. Machine learning algorithms for predicting undernutrition among under-five children in Ethiopia. Public Health Nutr. 25(2):269\u0026ndash;80.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSoni A, Fahey N, Ash A, Bhutta Z, Li W, Simas TM, et al. Predictive algorithm to stratify newborns at-risk for child undernutrition in India: Secondary analysis of the National Family Health Survey-4. J Glob Health. 2022 May 14;12:04040.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBlack RE, Victora CG, Walker SP, Bhutta ZA, Christian P, Onis M de, et al. Maternal and child undernutrition and overweight in low-income and middle-income countries. The Lancet. 2013 Aug 3;382(9890):427\u0026ndash;51.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFenske N, Burns J, Hothorn T, Rehfuess EA. Understanding child stunting in India: a comprehensive analysis of socio-economic, nutritional and environmental determinants using additive quantile regression. PLoS One. 2013;8(11):e78692.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCorsi DJ, Mej\u0026iacute;a-Guevara I, Subramanian SV. Risk factors for chronic undernutrition among children in India: Estimating relative importance, population attributable risk and fractions. Social Science \u0026amp; Medicine. 2016 May 1;157:165\u0026ndash;85.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRah JH, Cronin AA, Badgaiyan B, Aguayo VM, Coates S, Ahmed S. Household sanitation and personal hygiene practices are associated with child stunting in rural India: a cross-sectional analysis of surveys. BMJ Open. 2015 Feb 12;5(2):e005180.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVariable selection with LASSO regression for complex survey data - Iparragirre - 2023 - Stat - Wiley Online Library [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.umassmed.idm.oclc.org/doi/10.1002/sta4.578\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe DHS Program - Merging Datasets [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 7]. Available from: https://dhsprogram.com/data/Merging-datasets.cfm\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSvedberg P. Poverty and Undernutrition: Theory, Measurement, and Policy. Oxford University Press; 2000. 394 p.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNandy S, Irving M, Gordon D, Subramanian SV, Smith GD. Poverty, child undernutrition and morbidity: new evidence from India. Bull World Health Organ. 2005 Mar;83(3):210\u0026ndash;6.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRobin X, Turck N, Hainard A, Tiberti N, Lisacek F, Sanchez J, M\u0026uuml;ller M (2011). \u0026ldquo;pROC: an open-source package for R and S+ to analyze and compare ROC curves.\u0026rdquo; BMC Bioinformatics, 12, 77.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSurjanovic, N., Lockhart, R.A. \u0026amp; Loughin, T.M. A generalized Hosmer\u0026ndash;Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test for a family of generalized linear models. TEST 33, 589\u0026ndash;608 (2024).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eR: The R Stats Package [Internet]. [cited 2024 Dec 13]. Available from: https://stat.ethz.ch/R-manual/R-devel/library/stats/html/00Index.html\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Undernutrition, Stunting, Predictive algorithms, Undernutrition prediction, Machine learning, Pediatric nutrition, Child health, Machine learning in health","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eMore than a third of India\u0026rsquo;s children suffer from undernutrition, and despite nationwide efforts, India is projected to miss the Sustainable Development Goals targets for 2030. Worse, socioeconomic disparities have widened for these metrics. A data-driven prioritization effort may hold promise for more efficient and effective interventions. Data from nationwide assessment (NFHS-5) was used to evaluate performance of a predictive model previously developed by our team using NFHS-4 data. Model performance was assessed for discrimination (AUC) and calibration. Enhancements were explored using LASSO feature selection to refine predictors. A new model (Enhanced Model) was trained on NFHS-5 data using logistic regression, XGBoost, and neural networks. 51% of children in the analytical sample were undernourished as per the CIAF definition. Model A, trained on NFHS-4 data, showed moderate discrimination (AUC: 66.6%), high sensitivity (93.76%), and low specificity (21.58%), leading to many false positives and risk overestimation. The enhanced model achieved a slightly improved AUC (67.5%), accuracy (62.97%), sensitivity (66.31%) and specificity (58.82%). The updated predictive model trained on NFHS-5 data achieved modest improvements in accuracy and balanced sensitivity and specificity compared to the previously developed logistic regression model. Although machine learning methods are promising, the improvements over frequentist models remain incremental for the prognostic capability of single timepoint predictors.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Validation and Improvement of Child Undernutrition Risk Prediction Model Using National Family Health Survey - 5 Data from India","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-12-04 10:51:53","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7943491/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2026-02-02T08:33:17+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-31T02:44:14+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"87979252865664368482701539130705993988","date":"2026-01-31T02:22:33+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2026-01-02T22:27:08+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"291867009654153587051573283064833972326","date":"2025-12-20T10:20:53+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"286036496273430753685827006853214029477","date":"2025-12-20T09:43:51+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2025-12-02T09:54:40+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2025-10-28T19:36:56+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2025-10-25T14:06:42+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2025-10-25T14:06:41+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2025-10-24T22:29:30+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"
[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"d6786063-2ecc-4b14-9590-9bdf6a8f85b9","owner":[],"postedDate":"December 4th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":58946390,"name":"Health sciences/Biomarkers"},{"id":58946391,"name":"Biological sciences/Computational biology and bioinformatics"},{"id":58946392,"name":"Health sciences/Diseases"},{"id":58946393,"name":"Health sciences/Health care"},{"id":58946394,"name":"Health sciences/Medical research"},{"id":58946395,"name":"Health sciences/Risk factors"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-21T18:23:20+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-12-04 10:51:53","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7943491","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7943491","identity":"rs-7943491","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}
Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below.
Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure
cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can
have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy
(via DOI)
is the canonical version.