Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36732719›Full record

ArticleBMC public health2023

Associations between dimensions of empowerment and nutritional status among married adolescent girls in East Africa: a structural equation modelling study.

Alison Y Riddle, Wenshan Li, Zulfiqar A Bhutta, Carol Vlassoff, Monica Taljaard, Elizabeth Kristjansson, Vivian Welch, George A Wells

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Alison Y RiddleSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada. aridd058@uottawa.ca.
Wenshan LiSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada.
Zulfiqar A BhuttaCentre for Global Child Health, Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids), 525 University Avenue, Suite 702, Toronto, ON, M5G 2L3, Canada.
Carol VlassoffSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada.
Monica TaljaardSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada.
Elizabeth KristjanssonSchool of Psychology, Social Sciences Building, University of Ottawa, 120 University Private, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
Vivian Welch *School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada.
George A Wells *School of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Ottawa, 600 Peter Morand Crescent, Room 101, Ottawa, ON, K1G 5Z3, Canada.
University of Ottawa · CABruyère · CAAga Khan University · PKOttawa Hospital · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundEmpowering adolescent girls is an important component of combating malnutrition in this age group. Because empowerment is multidimensional and context specific, it can be difficult for policymakers and practitioners to target the dimensions of empowerment associated with adolescent girls' nutrition in a particular setting. This study sought to identify the empowerment dimensions significantly associated with married adolescent girls' nutritional status in East Africa; a region where malnutrition and gender inequality stubbornly persist.

methodsWe used cross-sectional Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Ethiopia (2016), Kenya (2014), Tanzania (2015-16) and Uganda (2016) to construct and test theoretically informed structural equation models of the relationship between six dimensions of empowerment and BMI-for-age and haemoglobin levels for married adolescent girls aged 15-19 years.

resultsOur models were found to be a good fit for the data. Married adolescent girls' access to information, measured by their education level and mass media use, was directly and positively associated with their BMI-for-age (p < 0.05). Asset ownership, measured by owning a house or land alone or jointly, was directly and positively associated with haemoglobin (p < 0.05) and reduced odds of being moderately to severely anemic. Rejecting justifications for intimate partner violence, a measure of respondents' intrinsic agency, was directly and positively associated with the odds of being overweight or obese. Adolescent girls' level of empowerment across all dimensions had a direct relationship with their country of residence and household wealth.

conclusionsOur findings suggest that investment in girls' access to information through education and mass/social media and their economic empowerment may be important contributors to their overall empowerment and nutritional status. However, caution is needed as greater autonomy may contribute to increased consumption of unhealthy foods that can contribute to overweight and obesity. Strategies to empower married adolescent girls should be tailored to their specific circumstances. There is an urgent need for better data on adolescent empowerment and health, including increased research into age-, sex- and gender-appropriate empowerment measures and longitudinal data to assess causality. The use of statistical models should be complemented by robust qualitative research to further results interpretation.

Indexed as

MalnutritionNutritional StatusAdolescentCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansLatent Class AnalysisOverweightTanzaniaAdolescent EmpowermentAdolescent GirlsAdolescent NutritionEast AfricaStructural Equation Models

Identifiers

PMID36732719
PMCPMC9893589
OpenAlexW4319032179

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.