Jeong, JoshuaBhatia, AmiyaFink, Gunther2018-07-122018Jeong, Joshua, Amiya Bhatia, and Günther Fink. 2018. “Associations Between Birth Registration and Early Child Growth and Development: Evidence from 31 Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” BMC Public Health 18 (1) (May 30). doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5598-z.1471-2458http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:37221771BACKGROUND: Lack of legal identification documents can impose major challenges for children in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim of this study was to investigate the association between not having a birth certificate and young children's physical growth and developmental outcomes in LMICs. METHODS: We combined nationally representative data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys in 31 LMICs. For our measure of birth registration, primary caregivers reported on whether the child had a birth certificate. Early child outcome measures focused on height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ), weight-for-height z-scores (WHZ), and standardized scores of the Early Childhood Development Index (ECDI) for a subsample of children aged 36-59 months. We used linear regression models with country fixed effects to estimate the relationship between birth registration and child outcomes. In fully adjusted models, we controlled for a variety of child, caregiver, household, and access to child services covariates, including cluster-level fixed effects. RESULTS: In the total sample, 34.7% of children aged 0-59 months did not possess a birth certificate. After controlling for covariates, not owning a birth certificate was associated with lower HAZ (β = - 0.18; 95% CI: -0.23, - 0.14), WAZ (β = - 0.10, 95% CI: -0.13, - 0.07), and ECDI z-scores (β = - 0.10; 95% CI: -0.13, - 0.07) among children aged 36-59 months. CONCLUSION: Our findings document links between birth registration and children's early growth and development outcomes. Efforts to increase birth registration may be promising for promoting early childhood development in LMICs.en-USBirth registration; Early child development; Early child nutrition; Low- and middle-income countries; Multiple Indicator cluster surveysBirth registrationEarly child developmentEarly child nutritionLow- and middle-income countriesMultiple Indicator cluster surveysJournal Article2018-05-2020182018-07-1210.1186/s12889-018-5598-z