Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: Women’s empowerment is associated with maternal nutrition and low birth weight:  
Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey  
 
Version: 1 Date: 29 Dec 2019  
 
Reviewer: Luiza Ricardo  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
BMWH -D-19-00617R1: Women's empowerment is associated with maternal nutrition and low 
birth weight: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey  
 
The paper is well written and methodologically well conducted. I believe the first round of 
revisions already improved the manuscript substantially, thus there are only minor revisions left 
for discussion. To adequately address all relevant topics, the review process was guided by the 
STROBE Statement checklist (strobe -statement.org).  
 
Revise the paper for different font sizes and styles (examples: line 16 and 23)  
 
Abstract:  
Line 34 - Briefly describe what indicators were included in the women's empowerment index 
(WEI)  
 
Methods:  
Line 150 : What is the rationale for including only women currently married, living with their 
husband and sexually active? Isn't it more likely that women in those conditions have less 
empowerment? I believe those are DHS inclusion criteria, however it could be cl earer in the 
manuscript.  
 
Please include the weight and height measurement methods for mothers.  
 
The variable LBW was not based on birth weight but on a self -reported question. This issue was 
already cited in the limitations section; however, I believe som e explanation on this decision 
could be placed earlier in the paper. Please provide evidence that this decision is feasible, with 
references. Also, in the limitations paragraph, include comments on how the operationalization 
of this variable may have impac ted your results.  
 
The paragraph about limitations is simply describing the possible limitations. I suggest the 
authors indicate how these limitations may have affected the estimates and associations.  
 
Line 227: Misplaced comma.  
 
 
 
Results:  
 
What was the a ge range of the mothers? I couldn't find this information on the manuscript. If 
adolescents were included, WHO recommends that z -scores are calculated for the evaluation of 
adolescents' nutritional status. Therefore, if adolescents were included, the malnu trition 
prevalence could be underestimated, and this could be listed and discussed as a limitation. I 
suggest a brief inclusion of the age range in the results section.  
 
Lines 239 -242: Provide confidence intervals for the associations described.  
 
Line 275:  Change 'represented' for "representative'  
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in t he manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical review?   
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
I am able to assess the statistics  
 
Quality of  written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in the manuscript:  
 
Acceptable  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received  reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
2. Do you hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gai n or lose  
financially from the publication of this manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salar y from an organization that 
holds  or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal . I understand that my name will be included  
on my report to the authors and, if the manuscript is accepted for publication, my named report  
including any attachments I upload will be posted on the website along with the authors'  
responses. I agree for my report to be made available under an Open Access Creative Commons  
CC-BY license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). I understand that any comments  
which I do not wish to be included in my named report can be included as confidential comments  
to the editors, which will not be published.  
 
I agree to the open peer review policy of the journal