Basic determinants of child linear growth outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa: a cross-sectional survey analysis of positive deviants in poor households

Childhood malnutrition is a significant public health problem confronting countries across the globe. Although there is evidence of a downward trend in undernutrition globally, sub-Saharan Africa did not experience significant improvement in the past decades. This study investigated the basic determinants of linear growth among children living in poor households. We analysed a nationally representative sample of children aged 0–59 months (N = 24,264). The study countries were Ghana, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, and Mozambique. The child’s height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ), categorised into HAZ > − 2 standard deviations (SD) (not stunted) and HAZ