Cross-country comparison of waterpipe use: nationally representative data from 13 low and middle-income countries from the Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS)

Many critical policy decisions, from strategic investments to the allocation of humanitarian aid, rely on data about the geographic distribution of wealth and poverty. Yet many poverty maps are out of date or exist only at very coarse levels of granularity. Here we develop microestimates of the relative wealth and poverty of the populated surface of all 135 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) at 2.4 km resolution. The estimates are built by applying machine-learning algorithms to vast and heterogeneous data from satellites, mobile phone networks, and topographic maps, as well as aggregated and deidentified connectivity data from Facebook. We train and calibrate the estimates using nationally representative household survey data from 56 LMICs and then validate their accuracy using four independent sources of household survey data from 18 countries. We also provide confidence intervals for each microestimate to facilitate responsible downstream use. These estimates are provided free for public use in the hope that they enable targeted policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic, provide the foundation for insights into the causes and consequences of economic development and growth, and promote responsible policymaking in support of sustainable development.

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Cross-country income variations and inclusive financing

Journal of Financial Economic Policy ◽

10.1108/jfep-10-2019-0207 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Muhammad Nabeel Safdar ◽

Tian Lin ◽

Saba Amin

Keyword(s):

Information Technology ◽

Principal Component ◽

High Income ◽

Financial Inclusion ◽

Middle Income ◽

Content Type ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Cross Country ◽

The Impact ◽

Low And Middle Income

Purpose This study, a symposium, aims to explore the determinants of financial inclusion, impact of cross-country income-variations on financial inclusion, do high-income countries really uplift the financial inclusion and does the higher financial inclusion index indicate the larger economy? Design/methodology/approach This study adopts the panel data model to investigate the impact of high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries on financial inclusion. However, this study further adopts the principal component analysis rather than Sarma’s approach to calculate the financial inclusion index. Findings Based on the Data of World Bank, United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Development Indicators, this study concludes that there is no nexus between income variations and financial inclusion, as the study reveals that some low- and middle-income countries have greater financial inclusion index such as Thailand (2.8538FII), Brazil (1.9526FII) and Turkey (0.8582FII). In low- and middle-income countries, the gross domestic product per capita, information technology and communication, the rule of law, age dependency ratio and urbanization have a noteworthy impact on financial inclusion that accumulatively describe the 83% of the model. Whereas, in high-income countries, merely, information technology and urbanization have a substantial influence on the growth of financial revolution and financial inclusion that describes the 70% of the total. Research limitations/implications The biggest limitation is the availability of data from different countries. Originality/value The originality of this paper is its technique, which is used in this paper to calculate the financial inclusion index. Furthermore, this study contributes to 40 different countries based on income, which could help to boost financial inclusion, and ultimately, it leads them toward economic growth.

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Age patterns in overweight and wasting prevalence of under 5-year-old children from low- and middle-income countries

International Journal of Obesity ◽

10.1038/s41366-021-00911-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luiza I. C. Ricardo ◽

Giovanna Gatica-Domínguez ◽

Inácio Crochemore-Silva ◽

Paulo A. R. Neves ◽

Juliana dos Santos Vaz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Age Groups ◽

Demographic And Health Surveys ◽

Older Children ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Multiple Indicator ◽

Standard Deviations ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Low And Middle Income

Abstract Objectives To describe how overweight and wasting prevalence varies with age among children under 5 years in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods We used data from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys. Overweight and wasting prevalence were defined as the proportions of children presenting mean weight for length/height (WHZ) more than 2 standard deviations above or below 2 standard deviations from the median value of the 2006 WHO standards, respectively. Descriptive analyses include national estimates of child overweight and wasting prevalence, mean, and standard deviations of WHZ stratified by age in years. National results were pooled using the population of children aged under 5 years in each country as weight. Fractional polynomials were used to compare mean WHZ with both overweight and wasting prevalence. Results Ninety national surveys from LMICs carried out between 2010 and 2019 were included. The overall prevalence of overweight declined with age from 6.3% for infants (aged 0–11 months) to 3.0% in 4 years olds (p = 0.03). In all age groups, lower prevalence was observed in low-income compared to upper-middle-income countries. Wasting was also more frequent among infants, with a slight decrease between the first and second year of life, and little variation thereafter. Lower-middle-income countries showed the highest wasting prevalence in all age groups. On the other hand, mean WHZ was stable over the first 5 years of life, but the median standard deviation for WHZ decreased from 1.39 in infants to 1.09 in 4-year-old children (p < 0.001). For any given value of WHZ, both overweight and wasting prevalence were higher in infants than in older children. Conclusion The higher values of WHZ standard deviations in infants suggest that declining prevalence in overweight and wasting by age may be possibly due to measurement error or rapid crossing of growth channels by infants.

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New estimations of child marriage: Evidence from 98 low- and middle-income countries

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0258378 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (10) ◽

pp. e0258378

Author(s):

Mengjia Liang ◽

Sandile Simelane ◽

Satvika Chalasani ◽

Rachel Snow

Keyword(s):

Survival Analysis ◽

Child Marriage ◽

Demographic And Health Surveys ◽

Hazard Rates ◽

Middle Income ◽

The Sustainable Development ◽

Marriage Rates ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Low And Middle Income

The Sustainable Development Goals include a target on eliminating child marriage, a human rights abuse. Yet, the indicator used in the SDG framework is a summary statistic and does not provide a full picture of the incidence of marriage at different ages. This paper aims to address this limitation by providing an alternative method of measuring child marriage. The paper reviews recent data on nuptiality and captures evidence of changes in the proportion married and in the age at marriage, in 98 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Using data collected from nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, survival analysis is applied to estimate (a) age-specific marriage hazard rates among girls before age 18; and (b) the number of girls that were married before age 18 in 2020. Results show that the vast majority of girls remain unmarried until age 10. Child marriage rates increase gradually until age 14 and accelerate significantly thereafter at ages 15–17. By accounting for both single-year-age-specific child marriage hazard rates and the age structure of the population with a survival analysis approach, lower estimates in countries with a rapid decrease in child marriage and higher estimates in countries with constant or slightly rising child marriage rates relative to the direct approach are obtained.

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Prevalence and trends in the childhood dual burden of malnutrition in low- and middle-income countries, 1990–2012

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980016000276 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 19 (8) ◽

pp. 1375-1388 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Emma Tzioumis ◽

Melissa C Kay ◽

Margaret E Bentley ◽

Linda S Adair

Keyword(s):

Demographic And Health Surveys ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Middle Income ◽

Individual Level ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Country Level ◽

Before And After ◽

Dual Burden ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Low And Middle Income

AbstractObjectiveTo describe trends in country- and individual-level dual burden of malnutrition in children <5 years, and age-stratified (<2 years, ≥2 years) country-level trends, in thirty-six low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).DesignUsing repeated cross-sectional nationally representative data, we calculated the prevalence of malnutrition (stunting, wasting, overweight) at each survey wave, annualized rates of prevalence change for each country over time, and trends before and after 2000, for all children <5 years and separately for those </≥2 years. We examined country- (ratio of stunting to overweight) and individual-level (coexistence of stunting and overweight) dual burden in children <5 years.SettingDemographic and Health Surveys from thirty-six LMIC between 1990 and 2012.SubjectsChildren <5 years.ResultsOverall malnutrition prevalence decreased in children <5 years, driven by stunting decreases. Stunting rates decreased in 78 % of countries, wasting rates decreased in 58 % of countries and overweight rates increased in 36 % of countries. Rates of change differed for children </≥2 years, with children <2 years experiencing decreases in stunting in fewer countries yet increases in overweight in more countries. Countries with nearly equal prevalences of stunting and overweight in children <5 years increased from 2000 to the final year. Within a country, 0·3–10·9 % of children <5 years were stunted and overweight, and 0·6–37·8 % of stunted children <5 years were overweight.ConclusionsThe dual burden exists in children <5 years on both country and individual levels, indicating a shift is needed in policies and programmes to address both sides of malnutrition. Children <2 years should be identified as a high-risk demographic.

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Physical injury and depression in six low- and middle-income countries: A nationally representative study

Journal of Affective Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.023 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 248 ◽

pp. 99-107 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Louis Jacob ◽

Damiano Pizzol ◽

Nicola Veronese ◽

Brendon Stubbs ◽

Ai Koyanagi

Keyword(s):

Physical Injury ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Representative Study ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Low And Middle Income

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Double Burden of Malnutrition Among Women of Reproductive Age in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Progress Achieved and Opportunities for Meeting the Global Target

Current Developments in Nutrition ◽

10.1093/cdn/nzaa053_044 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽

pp. 839-839

Author(s):

Md Mehedi Hasan ◽

Saifuddin Ahmed ◽

Ricardo J Soares Magalhaes ◽

Yaqoot Fatima ◽

Tuhin Biswas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sociodemographic Factors ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

Women Of Reproductive Age ◽

Double Burden ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Funding Sources ◽

Projection Analysis ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

Low And Middle Income

Abstract Objectives To monitor progress, make projections and examine inequalities in women's underweight and overweight in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs). Methods We used nationally representative Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data of 2,337,855 women of reproductive age (15–49 years, mean age 29.7 y, SD ± 9.6) from 55 LMICs, to study the current and projected prevalence of underweight (Body Mass Index < 18.5 kg/m2) and overweight (BMI ≥ 25.0 kg/m2). Bayesian linear regression analyses were performed for trend and projection analysis. Current and projected trends of women's malnutrition were studied, and national as well as subnational level variations, particularly in the context of sociodemographic factors, were explored. Results In 2030, over 20% of women in eight LMICs will be underweight, with Madagascar (36.8%), Senegal (32.2%) and Burundi (29.2%) projected to experience the highest burden of underweight. Whereas, over 50% women in 22 LMICs are projected to be overweight, with Egypt (94.7%), Jordan (75.0%), and Pakistan (74.1%) projected to have the highest burden of overweight. We project that in 2030, 24 LMICs would experience DBM. There is considerable variation in the prevalence of underweight and overweight across national and subnational levels. Wealth, education, and place of residence are seen to have the highest impact on the current and future prevalence of underweight and overweight. It is projected that between 2020 and 2030, socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in LMICs will experience the sharpest increase in the prevalence of overweight. We also found none of the 55 LMICs will be able to eradicate overweight or underweight (barring Egypt) by 2030. Conclusions Overall, the prevalence of underweight in women of reproductive age in LMICs has declined in the past three decades. However, the decrease in the rate of underweight has been superseded by the dramatic increase in the prevalence of overweight. Therefore, it is unlikely that any of the 55 LMICs will be successful in eradicating malnutrition by 2030. Funding Sources None.

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