Effects of preceding birth intervals on neonatal, infant and under-five years mortality and nutritional status in developing countries: evidence from the demographic and health surveys

Abstract

This study analyzes the association between birth intervals and infant and child mortality and nutritional status in developing countries using Demographic and Health Surveys data from 17 countries with 185,000 births. Adjusted odds ratios obtained through techniques such as logistic analysis are applied to assess the relative odds of death or malnutrition for children based on the duration of the preceding birth interval. The risk of mortality trends downward with increasing birth interval, rapidly until 36–47 months and then more slowly with longer intervals with the lowest odds ratios in the 36 to 59 month period. The relationship between preceding birth interval and stunting and underweight is less conclusive, however, it is clear that undernutrition declines substantially with longer intervals. – AI-generated abstract.