Table 2: Percent distribution of all live births and the distribution of their size at birth as perceived by mothers according to background characteristics, BDHS 2011.
Note: The number of missing values may vary for each variable. The percentages presented are valid percentages.
Factors Total Births Perceived Size at Birth P-value
N % Small ≥ Average
Total 8588 100 17.2 82.7
Mother’s age at birth of child 0.005
< 20 1161 13.5 20.6 79.4
20-29 5453 63.5 16.4 83.6
30-34 1230 14.3 17.4 82.6
35+ 744 8.7 17.5 82.5
Mean age (±SD) 25.6 (±5.9)
Mothers education 0.000
No education 1655 19.3 20.1 79.9
Primary 2634 30.7 18.1 81.9
Secondary 3633 42.3 16.6 83.4
Higher 666 7.8 11.0 89.0
Employment status 0.140
Not employed/house wife 7739 90.1 17.4 82.6
Employed 849 9.9 15.9 84.1
Birth order 0.010
1 3095 36.1 18.2 81.8
2-3 3943 45.9 16.0 84.0
4+ 1550 18.0 18.8 81.2
Children gender 0.000
Male 4418 51.4 15.7 84.3
Female 4170 48.6 18.9 81.1
Pregnancy was wanted 0.090
Then 6281 73.1 16.7 83.3
Later 1257 14.6 18.4 81.6
No more 1049 12.2 19.5 80.5
Number of ANC visit 0.000
0 2422 33.4 20.4 79.6
1-3 2909 40.2 17.4 82.6
4+ 1914 26.4 13.2 86.8
Preceding birth interval 0.096
< 24 months 688 12.5 18.6 81.4
≥ 24 months 4805 87.5 16.5 83.5
Mother’s height 0.008
< 145 cm 1099 12.8 19.9 80.1
≥145 cm 7489 87.2 16.9 83.1
Mother’s BMI 0.002
<18.5 2319 27.0 19.5 80.5
18.5-24.9 5037 58.7 16.8 83.2
≥25.0 1232 14.3 15.3 84.7
Any pregnancy complications 0.307
Yes 1570 32.6 16.2 83.8
No 3244 67.4 17.6 84.4
Took iron during pregnancy 0.541
Yes 194 2.4 17.0 83.0
No 7984 97.6 17.2 83.0
Father’s education 0.000
No education 2423 28.2 19.2 80.8
Primary 2520 29.4 18.0 82.0
Secondary 2494 29.1 16.8 83.2
Higher
1145 13.3 12.8 87.2
Fathers occupation 0.192
Professional/technical 2137 24.9 15.9 84.1
Business 1909 22.2 17.7 82.3
Factory worker/blue collar service 1285 15.0 16.4 83.6
Labour (skilled/unskilled) 692 8.1 19.4 80.6
Farmer/agricultural work 2033 23.7 17.8 82.2
Others 532 6.2 19.2 80.8
Region 0.000
Barisal 957 11.1 14.3 85.7
Chittagong 1713 19.9 20.4 79.6
Dhaka 1422 16.6 16.1 83.9
Khulna 963 11.2 15.6 84.4
Rajshahi 1057 12.3 15.7 84.3
Rangpur 1091 12.7 13.7 86.3
Sylhet 1385 16.1 21.9 78.1
Place of residence 0.032
Urban 2621 30.5 16.1 83.9
Rural 5967 69.5 17.8 82.2
Wealth index 0.001
Poorest 1908 22.2 19.8 80.2
Poorer 1669 19.4 18.6 81.4
Middle 1637 19.1 17.0 83.0
Richer 1681 19.6 15.9 84.1
Richest 1693 19.7 14.9 85.1