Machine Learning Algorithms for Predicting Stunting among Under-Five Children in Papua New Guinea

Bibliographic Data

ID15716992
AuthorsHao Shen (0000-0003-3361-6058, Chongqing Public Health Medical Center), Hang Zhao (0009-0004-6759-9617, Chongqing Public Health Medical Center), Yi Jiang (0000-0001-6581-0950, Chongqing Public Health Medical Center, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume10
Issue10
Pages1638-1638
Publication date2023-09-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChildren (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2227-9067 • E-ISSN: 2227-9067
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/children10101638
PMID37892302
OpenAlexW4387234807
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited49

Preventing stunting is particularly important for healthy development across the life course. In Papua New Guinea (PNG), the prevalence of stunting in children under five years old has consistently not improved. Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to employ multiple machine learning algorithms to identify the most effective model and key predictors for stunting prediction in children in PNG. The study used data from the 2016-2018 Papua New Guinea Demographic Health Survey, including from 3380 children with complete height-for-age data. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and random-forest-recursive feature elimination were used for feature selection. Logistic regression, a conditional decision tree, a support vector machine with a radial basis function kernel, and an extreme gradient boosting machine (XGBoost) were employed to construct the prediction model. The performance of the final model was evaluated using accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and area under the curve (AUC). The results of the study showed that LASSO-XGBoost has the best performance for predicting stunting in PNG (AUC: 0.765; 95% CI: 0.714-0.819) with accuracy, precision, recall, and F1 scores of 0.728, 0.715, 0.628, and 0.669, respectively. Combined with the SHAP value method, the optimal prediction model identified living in the Highlands Region, the age of the child, being in the richest family, and having a larger or smaller birth size as the top five important characteristics for predicting stunting. Based on the model, the findings support the necessity of preventing stunting early in life. Emphasizing the nutritional status of vulnerable maternal and child populations in PNG is recommended to promote maternal and child health and overall well-being

Algorithm · Decision tree · Feature selection · Gradient boosting · Lasso (programming language · Logistic regression · Machine learning · New guinea · Random forest · Receiver operating characteristic · Statistics · Stepwise regression · Support vector machine · Child Nutrition and Water Access · Computer Science · Mathematics · Medicine · Public Health and Nutrition · Artificial Intelligence

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