Table 1 Family and Household characteristics compared between severely acutely malnourished (SAM) and well-nourished study population (n = 620)
Variable | Malnourished children (%) n = 310 | Well-nourished children (%) n = 310 | P-value | Total (%) n = 620 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Family characteristics | ||||
Paternal educational status | ||||
 Not formally educated | 151 (48.7) | 93 (30.0) | < 0.0001* | 244 (39.4) |
 Formally educated | 159 (51.3) | 217 (70.0) |  | 376 (60.6) |
Maternal educational status | ||||
 Not formally educated | 211 (41.9) | 130 (68.1) | < 0.0001* | 341 (55.0) |
 Formally educated | 180 (58.1) | 99 (31.9) |  | 279 (45.0) |
Maternal employment status | ||||
 Unemployed | 90 (29.0) | 105 (33.9) | 0.19 | 195 (31.5) |
 employed | 220 (71.0) | 205 (66.1) |  | 425 (68.5) |
Family type# | ||||
 monogamous | 111 (35.8) | 148 (48.2) | 0.002* | 259 (42.0) |
 polygamous | 199 (64.2) | 159 (51.8) |  | 358 (58.0) |
Social class | ||||
 I | 0 (0.0) | 2 (0.7) | < 0.0001* | 2 (0.3) |
 II | 10 (3.2) | 27 (8.7) |  | 37 (6.0) |
 III | 18 (5.8) | 77 (24.8) |  | 95 (15.3) |
 IV | 140 (45.2) | 129 (41.6) |  | 269 (43.4) |
 V | 142 (45.8) | 75 (24.2) |  | 217 (35.0) |
Household characteristics | Median (IQR) | Median (IQR) | P-value | Range |
 Persons per household | 7 (6) | 9 (6) | 0.02 | 3 33 |
 Children per household | 5 (5) | 6 (5) | 0.25 | 1 28 |
 Weekly family expenditure on household perishable foods per person b (Nigerian Naira, n = 306) ** | 214.8 (268.9) | 291.7 (350) | 0.0002* | 15.42333.3 |