Understanding the complex determinants of height and adiposity in disadvantaged daycare preschoolers in Salvador, NE Brazil through structural equation modelling

Table 3 Correlation matrix of biological, socio-economic, environmental, and micronutrient status variables affecting the children’s BMIZ and HAZ-scores (n = 376)

	Sex male	Black	White	Birth order	SES ex-low	Hel-minth	De-worm	Mat. Wt.	Mat. Ht.	Se	Zn	Hb	BMIZ	HAZ
Sex (male)	1.00
Ethnicity (black)	0.16¹	1.00
Ethnicity (white)	−0.08	−0.21	1.00
Birth order (≥3)	0.08	0.09	−0.08	1.00
SES (extremely low)	0.05	0.05	0.05	0.15¹	1.00
Helminth infection	0.16¹	0.04	−0.12¹	0.14¹	0.14¹	1.00
De-worming treatment	−0.04	0.08	−0.05	0.08	0.02	−0.10	1.00
Maternal weight	−0.01	−0.03	0.00	0.01	−0.13¹	0.02	0.05	1.00
Maternal height	−0.00	−0.04	0.04	−0.22¹	−0.04	0.00	−0.01	0.33²	1.00
Serum Se	0.13¹	−0.01	0.03	−0.06	−0.07	−0.15¹	−0.01	−0.09	0.05	1.00
Serum Zn	0.00	0.01	0.01	−0.11¹	−0.01	−0.13¹	0.09	−0.08	0.05	0.15¹	1.00
Haemoglobin (Hb)	0.00	0.00	0.06	−0.06	−0.11¹	−0.15¹	0.02	0.11	0.04	0.22²	0.17¹	1.00
BMIZ	−0.02	0.04	−0.07	−0.06	−0.20¹	−0.03	0.07	0.28²	−0.05	0.05	−0.06	0.18¹	1.00
HAZ	−0.04	−0.06	−0.03	−0.14¹	−0.09	−0.08	0.02	0.30²	0.39²	0.04	−0.08	0.09	0.18¹	1.00

SES socio-economic status, mat maternal, BMIZ body mass index Z-score, HAZ height-for-age Z-score
¹p < 0.05; ²p < 0.001

ISSN: 1471-2458