About the Authors

Alamgir Kabir

alamgir.kabir@icddrb.org

Affiliations Department of Statistics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh

Rebecca D. Merrill

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Abu Ahmed Shamim

Affiliation The JiVitA Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition Research Project, Gaibandha, Bangladesh

Rolf D. W. Klemn

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Alain B. Labrique

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Parul Christian

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Keith P. West Jr

Affiliation Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Mohammed Nasser

Affiliation Department of Statistics, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, Bangladesh

Competing Interests

The authors can state that, in spite of the partial funding from a commercial source (Nutrilite Health Institute), this does not alter the authors' adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AK MN. Performed the experiments: AK MN RDM KPW. Analyzed the data: AK MN. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AK MN RDM KPW PC RDWK ABL AAS. Wrote the paper: AK MN RDM KPW. Study concept and design: KPW PC RDWK. Acquisition of data: ABL AAS PC. Drafting of the manuscript: AK. Analysis and interpretation of data: AK MN RDM KPW.