Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and BMI in Four Lmics: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data

Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and BMI in Four Lmics: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data | 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 Research Article Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and BMI in Four Lmics: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data Hwa-Young Lee, In Han Song, Ichiro Kawachi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-673304/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 Background Poor nutritional status in childhood is associated with an elevated risk of mortality and morbidity later in life. Previous studies showed a positive association between specific types of social capital and child nutritional status. Our study examined whether improved food security mediates the impact of maternal and child social support on child height and body mass index (BMI) in four low- and middle-income countries. Methods We used data from the Young Lives cohort study comprising roughly 1,000 children at age 8 and 12 in Vietnam, Ethiopia, India, and Peru. Outcome variables were z-score for height (HAZ) and BMI (BAZ). Results Belonging to the top half of maternal financial support and child financial support was positively associated with child HAZ at age 12 in Peru. Belonging to top half of overall maternal support among children aged 8 in Vietnam, and maternal financial support among children aged 12 in India were also positively associated with child BAZ. A positive association of food security was only found with maternal financial support among children aged 12 in Peru. However, food security did not play a significant role in mediating the effect of maternal financial support on child HAZ at age 12. Conclusions Strengthening social support to improve child nutritional status may not be a sufficient intervention in resource-poor settings because sources of supports may lack sufficient food resources to share. Considering between-country heterogeneity, a “one size fits all” approach for enhancing social capital may not be appropriate. Pediatrics Nutrition & Dietetics Health Policy social support child height child BMI mediation analysis low-and middle-income country. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplementalscirep.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Major revision 06 Dec, 2021 Reviews received at journal 06 Dec, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 24 Nov, 2021 Reviews received at journal 23 Nov, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Nov, 2021 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jul, 2021 Reviewers invited by journal 20 Jul, 2021 Editor assigned by journal 20 Jul, 2021 Editor invited by journal 09 Jul, 2021 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Jul, 2021 First submitted to journal 30 Jun, 2021 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. 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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-673304","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":38353300,"identity":"d120c1d4-c9a6-4c62-9472-273c8fb4b37f","order_by":0,"name":"Hwa-Young Lee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Harvard T.H.Chan School of Public Health","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hwa-Young","middleName":"","lastName":"Lee","suffix":""},{"id":38353301,"identity":"90087cff-f6e9-40d0-a684-2bff4a35b509","order_by":1,"name":"In Han Song","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA2klEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACNjBZAeEcABESxGk5Q4oWMGBsQ+IQ1MLHf/jYw6/zDsuZ8x8+eIChxo5BcvYBAg6TSEs3lt122NhyRlrCAYZjyQzSfAmEtPCYSUtuO5y44QaPwQEGtgMMcjwEHMbGfwaoZQ5Qy/nzHw4w/CNGC0OOmeTHBqCWAzkMBxjbDjBIE9QikZYmzXAs3djgRprBgcS+ZB7JHgJa5PsPH5P8UWMtZ3D+8OMPH77ZyUmcIaAFBJh5GJohrAQGBkLOggDGHwx1RCkcBaNgFIyCEQoACIA+ietGdZUAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Yonsei University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"In","middleName":"Han","lastName":"Song","suffix":""},{"id":38353302,"identity":"33f145d8-3f61-4780-9250-40a828c7c136","order_by":2,"name":"Ichiro Kawachi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Harvard T.H. 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","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-673304/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-673304/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePoor nutritional status in childhood is associated with an elevated risk of mortality and morbidity later in life. Previous studies showed a positive association between specific types of social capital and child nutritional status. Our study examined whether improved food security mediates the impact of maternal and child social support on child height and body mass index (BMI) in four low- and middle-income countries.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe used data from the Young Lives cohort study comprising roughly 1,000 children at age 8 and 12 in Vietnam, Ethiopia, India, and Peru. Outcome variables were z-score for height (HAZ) and BMI (BAZ). \u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults \u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBelonging to the top half of maternal financial support and child financial support was positively associated with child HAZ at age 12 in Peru. Belonging to top half of overall maternal support among children aged 8 in Vietnam, and maternal financial support among children aged 12 in India were also positively associated with child BAZ. A positive association of food security was only found with maternal financial support among children aged 12 in Peru. However, food security did not play a significant role in mediating the effect of maternal financial support on child HAZ at age 12.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusions\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStrengthening social support to improve child nutritional status may not be a sufficient intervention in resource-poor settings because sources of supports may lack sufficient food resources to share. Considering between-country heterogeneity, a “one size fits all” approach for enhancing social capital may not be appropriate.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Maternal/Child Social Support and Food Security in Relation to Child Height and BMI in Four Lmics: Mediation Analysis of Young Lives Data","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2021-07-12 22:48:58","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-673304/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Major revision","date":"2021-12-07T03:39:50+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-12-06T05:36:38+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"245bb7c4-cd21-4b4c-8964-30c1160cce41","date":"2021-11-24T20:58:47+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2021-11-23T19:39:31+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"2284baef-e954-4f1b-9743-6e80db077ded","date":"2021-11-16T14:44:22+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"0c4adf80-2fc5-4d71-a081-d4856adc62ad","date":"2021-07-20T14:36:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2021-07-20T10:08:13+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2021-07-20T08:58:34+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvited","content":"","date":"2021-07-09T06:42:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2021-07-09T06:24:49+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Scientific Reports","date":"2021-06-30T20:22:22+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":"419e9de1-b7df-4934-b170-d39b998b6fab","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 12th, 2021","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":5650890,"name":"Pediatrics"},{"id":5650891,"name":"Nutrition \u0026 Dietetics"},{"id":5650892,"name":"Health Policy"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2022-03-25T03:59:17+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2021-07-12 22:48:58","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-673304","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-673304","identity":"rs-673304","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"WrCJVZZCHTDjtuVLN7oU0","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}