Odds of boys being undernourished compared with girls by regions and age groups
| Region/age groups | No. of studies of wasting | Pooled OR (95% CI) | P value | No. of studies of stunting | Pooled OR (95% CI) | P value | No. of studies of underweight | Pooled OR (95% CI) | P value |
| Africa | |||||||||
| East | 8 | 1.18 (0.95 to 1.47) | 0.126 | 17 | 1.50 (1.29 to 1.72) | <0.001 | 11 | 1.24 (1.02 to 1.50) | <0.0034 |
| West | 3 | 1.34 (1.12 to 1.59) | 0.001 | 4 | 1.24 (1.18 to 1.30) | <0.001 | 3 | 1.32 (1.19 to 1.47) | <0.001 |
| Central | 1 | 1.23 (1.13 to 1.33) | <0.001 | ||||||
| North | 1 | 1.21 (1.05 to 1.40) | 0.009 | ||||||
| Oceania | 1 | 2.44 (1.37 to 4.33) | 0.002 | ||||||
| Asia | |||||||||
| South | 5 | 1.39 (1.12 to 1.72) | 0.003 | 7 | 0.88 (0.62 to 1.26) | 0.492 | 4 | 0.84 (0.52 to 1.35) | 0.475 |
| South East | 3 | 1.08 (0.99 to 1.17) | 0.092 | 5 | 1.25 (1.08 to 1.45) | 0.003 | 3 | 1.09 (0.91 to 1.32) | 0.350 |
| Central America | 1 | 1.56 (1.17 to 2.07) | 0.003 | 1 | 0.53 (0.40 to 0.72) | <0.001 | |||
| Multiple studies | 1 | 1.58 (1.52 to 1.64) | <0.001 | 2 | 1.26 (1.07 to 1.49) | 0.006 | 1 | 1.38 (1.35 to 1.41) | <0.001 |
| Age group (months) | |||||||||
| 0–24 | 5 | 1.19 (1.06 to 1.34) | 0.004 | 12 | 1.46 (1.20 to 1.79) | <0.001 | 5 | 1.15 (0.80 to 1.65) | 0.445 |
| 24–59 | 3 | 1.21 (0.63 to 2.33) | 0.572 | ||||||
| 0–59 | 15 | 1.30 (1.13 to 1.48) | <0.001 | 24 | 1.24 (1.16 to 1.32) | <0.001 | 17 | 1.13 (0.99 to 1.29) | 0.066 |