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

Table 5

Selected characteristics and outcomes of pooled data of RDC and non-RDC children^†.

Outcomes	RDC children	Non-RDC children	𝑃 value^††
𝑁	33	21
Weight
Admission, kg	9.2±1.7	9.2±2.1	0.905
Discharge, kg	10.4±2.0	9.6±2.0	0.131
Difference, kg	+1.2±0.6	+0.4±0.7	0.000
Weight gain, kg/day	+0.05±0.05	0.01±0.01	0.000
Weight gain, g/kg/day	+4.8±3.3	+0.6±0.9	0.000
Height
Admission, cm	83.2±9.0	83.2±10.5	0.974
Discharge, cm	84.3±9.0	85.3±10.3	0.705
Difference, cm	+1.0±1.7	+2.1±2.0	0.286
WHZ
Admission	−2.37±0.28	−2.44±0.25	0.318
Discharge	−1.11±0.26	−2.42±0.69	0.000
Change in 𝑧-score	+1.25±0.41	+0.20±0.67	0.000
HAZ
Admission	−2.14±1.04	−2.11±1.09	0.909
Discharge	−2.16±1.02	−2.02±1.06	0.631
Change in 𝑧-score	−0.02±0.46	+0.09±0.68	0.572
MUAC
Admission, cm	13.1±1.0	12.9±0.8	0.372
Discharge, cm	14.0±0.8	13.2±0.8	0.002
Difference, cm	+0.8±0.9	+0.3±0.5	0.011
Length of stay^‡, day	39.5±33.0	73.8±33.2	0.000
RUF intake, g/day	89.8±31.0	68.4±31.9	0.017
Poor compliance*, % (𝑛)	6.3 (2)	47.6 (10)	0.001

RDC: reached discharge criterion; WHZ: weight-for-height 𝑍-score; HAZ: height-for-age 𝑍-score; MUAC: mid-upper arm circumference, RUF: ready-to-use foods.
^†Continuous variables written as mean ± SD, categorical variables presented as % (𝑛).
^‡Length of stay for children who reach discharge criterion was defined as number of days until reaching WHZ ≥−1.5 SD; length of stay for children who did not reach discharge criterion was defined as number of days until program closure.
*Poor compliance was defined as reported inadequate RUF-Nias biscuit consumption (<80%) during the program period.
^††Independent 𝑡-test (continuous data) or Fisher’s exact test (percentages) for comparing RDC versus non-RDC children.