Impact of Daily versus Weekly Supply of Locally Produced Ready-to-Use Food on Growth of Moderately Wasted Children on Nias Island, Indonesia

Table 2

Selected characteristics of the eligible moderately wasted children and their families during admission, by daily and weekly programs^†.

Indicators	Daily programs	Weekly programs	𝑃 value*
𝑁	34	20
Characteristics of the children
Female children	41.2 (14)	60.0 (12)	0.260
Age of children, months	30.3±12.8	30.8±15.7	0.900
Children still breastfed	47.1 (16)	35.0 (7)	0.412
Weight, kg	9.3±1.7	9.1±2.1	0.761
Height/length, cm	83.3±8.5	83.1±10.6	0.962
WHZ	−2.35±0.27	−2.48±0.25	0.079
HAZ	−2.12±1.12	−2.14±0.95	0.939
MUAC, cm	13.1±1.0	13.0±0.8	0.886
Characteristics of the families
Age of parents, years
Mothers	27.7±4.2	30.7±4.8	0.019
Fathers	30.7±6.2	38.7±8.7	0.002
Occupation of parents (farmer)
Mothers	67.6 (23)	85.0 (17)	0.208
Fathers	47.1 (16)	75.0 (15)	0.053
Education of caregivers; (≥6 years of schooling)
Maternal education	38.2 (13)	40.0 (8)	1.000
Father education	76.4 (26)	60.0 (12)	0.230
Lived with extended family	47.1 (16)	60.0 (12)	0.408
Income per capita per day^‡
<US$1.25/day	91.2 (31)	100.0 (20)	0.287

WHZ: weight-for-height 𝑧-score; HAZ: height-for-age 𝑧-score; MUAC: mid-upper arm circumference.
^†Continuous variables written as mean ± SD, categorical variables presented as % (𝑛).
^‡Income data was derived from average cash money earned every month and did not include household valuable assets, agriculture production, savings, or aids. US$1 equal to ±Rp 9,230 using currency rates in 2007, US$1.25 PPP equal to ±Rp 4,918 [22].
*Independent 𝑡-test (continuous data) or Fisher’s exact test (percentages) for comparing daily and weekly programs.