Rural Livelihood Variation and its Effects on Child Growth in Timor-Leste

Determinants of objectively measured physical activity in rural East Timorese children

“…The reference to symptoms was included to gain more accurate illness data because previous findings indicated that participants might not consider the above symptoms as illness. The child's mother was asked to recall food eaten by the child in the previous 24 hours, which was coded as a food variety score (FVS) and used as a proxy for dietary intake; see Spencer et al () for detailed methodology. GPS waypoints of each household participating in the study were recorded, as were major landmarks in each subdistrict including road intersections and schools.…”

“…Linear mixed models were also used to relate local and household ecology to moderate physical activity. Variables relating to household ecology were selected based on previous findings of household factors that demonstrated relationships with child growth and that we hypothesized were related to growth via demands on child activity (Spencer et al, ). Included variables were: household receives a salary (yes/no), number of productive age residents adults (ie, not children or grandparents), number of resident biological children, number of crops grown by the household, number of electrical appliances, food variety score (FVS; a proxy of dietary intake), and distance traveled by the child to school.…”

“…Household was included as a random factor to account for the clustering of children within households. Mother's height was included due to its known relationship to child growth and interaction with local ecology (Spencer et al, ). The inclusion of mother's height excluded 27 activity measurements due to missing data, as most mothers of fostered children could not be measured.…”

“…In rural Timor‐Leste, child growth is well below international standards (National Statistics Directorate [Timor‐Leste], Ministry of Finance, & ICF Macro, ; Reghupathy, Judge, Sanders, Amaral, & Schmitt, ; Sanders, Judge, Pauli, Amaral, & Schmitt, ; Spencer, Sanders, & Judge, ). Most households grow food for their own consumption; however, participation in a cash economy is also possible for some through small business ownership and salaried work (Spencer, Sanders, & Judge, ). Children in households with salaries have better growth, and we suggest one pathway for this relationship is through differences in child physical activity requirements (Spencer et al, ).…”

“…Most households grow food for their own consumption; however, participation in a cash economy is also possible for some through small business ownership and salaried work (Spencer, Sanders, & Judge, ). Children in households with salaries have better growth, and we suggest one pathway for this relationship is through differences in child physical activity requirements (Spencer et al, ). Children contribute productively to households; in child self‐recall of daily activities, 75% of all activities were work‐related, including collecting water and firewood, and helping on the family farm (Spencer, ).…”