Table 1 Variable description and coding

Age

Age of mother during the survey (1 = 15–19, 2 = 20–24, 3 = 25–29, 4 = 30–34, 5 = 35–39, 6 = 40–44, 7 = 45–49

Mother’s occupation

Employment status of mother (0 = not employed, 1 = employed)

Husband occupation

Employment status of husband (0 = not employed, 1 = employed)

mother’s education level

Current education level of the mother (0 = no education, 1 = primary, 2 = secondary, and 3 = higher)

Husband education level

Current education level of husband (0 = no education, 1 = primary, 2 = secondary and 3 = higher)

Wealth index

Household wealth index (1 = poor, 2 = medium, 3 = rich)

Marital status

Current marital status of mother (0 = unmarried, 1 = married)

Family size

Number of household members (1 = 1–3, 2 = 4–6, 3 = 7 and more)

Birth interval

Preceding birth interval in months (1 =  <  = 24, 2 = 25–36, 3 =  > 36)

Birth order

Birth rank of child (1 = first, 2 = 2- 3 = 4–5, 4 = 6 and more)

Media exposure

Having access to mass media (0 = No, 1 = Yes)

Sex of household head

Sex of household head (1 = male, 2 = female)

Distance to the health Facility

Distance to health facility (1 = big problem, 2 = not a big problem)

Religion

Religion of mother (1 = Orthodox, 2 = Catholic, 3 = Protestant, 4 = Muslim, 5 = traditional/others)

Region

Mother’s place of Region(1 = Tigray, 2 = Afar, 3 = Amhara, 4 = Oromia, 5 = Somali, 6 = Benishangul, 7 = SNNP, 8 = Gambela, 9 = Harari, 10 = Addis Ababa, 11 = Dire Dawa)

Zone

Administrative zone of the mother

Time

The four Ethiopian Demographic and Health survey Years (EDHS 2000–2016)

Si

The autocovariance variable