Identifying factors associated with child malnutrition in Ghana: a cross-sectional study using Bayesian multilevel ordinal logistic regression approach.

Objective: In developing countries, malnutrition is a noteworthy concern related to the well-being of people, and this study aimed to determine the factors that affect malnutrition among children below 5 years in Ghana.

Design: The study used a secondary data source, specifically the Ghanaian Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Six (MICS 6), which was conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service in 2017-2018. The MICS data are hierarchical, as children are categorised within households, and households are further grouped within a higher cluster, violating the independence assumption that must be addressed in the analyses.