Growth Monitoring Study (GMS) dataset for the analysis on the association between paternal labour migration and growth of the left-behind children

This dataset supports a publication on the association between paternal labour migration and growth of the left-behind children.
Introduction We aimed to determine the association between paternal labour migration and the growth of the left-behind children in Dhanusha district, Nepal, where child stunting and international labour migration are highly prevalent.
Methods We used growth data at birth, six months, one year and two years from a birth cohort study conducted 2012-2014, and growth data at age six years collected in 2018. We collected household migration history data to determine the children’s exposure to paternal migration. The primary outcome was child length/height-for age z-score (HAZ). Children’s body circumferences, skinfold thicknesses, body composition, tibia length and grip strength were secondary outcomes measured at six years. We tested i) the overall association between paternal international migration and the growth of the left-behind child; the roles of ii) the duration of migration (≤12mvs >12m) and iii) child age (≤6mvs 12-72m) as moderating factors; iv) the association between receipt of remittances from the migrant father and child growth outcomes; and v) stratified the main analyses by child gender. We fitted mixed-effects linear regression models for longitudinal data and linear regression models for cross-sectional data, adjusted for potential confounders.
Results Analysing across all time points, daughters of labour migrants had lower HAZ than daughters of non-migrants (-0.13 95% CI: -0.24, -0.03), but no overall association was found in boys. The negative associations were largest at <6m (girls: -0.23 95% CI: -0.41, -0.05), but in boys only if the father had recently (≤12m) migrated (-0.26 95% CI: -0.51, 0.00). Children of migrants showed a tendency towards smaller body sizes compared to children of non-migrants. We found no association between remittances and any measure of child growth.
Conclusions Interventions should target support for pregnant women and mothers with young infants to provide gender-equitable childcare, especially if their husband just left for work overseas.
Funding The main GMS cohort was funded by the Wellcome Trust Strategic Award for the Population Biology of Maternal and Newborn Survival (085417/Z/08/Z) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1165144), both awarded to UCL's Institute for Global Health. The recent follow-up of the GMS in 2018 was funded by the UCL Child Health Research CIO PhD Studentship, awarded to Laura Busert-Sebela. Further support for Laura's study was provided by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health International Child Health Group Research Fund, UCL Chadwick Trust Traveling Fellowship, and Stiftung fiat panis Dr. Hermann Eiselen Doktorandenförderung. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Health Service (NHS), the NIHR or the UK Department of Health. Funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.