Table 1.
Demographic information of 791 North Indian children at baseline and follow-up
(Number and percentages)
| Placebo | Vitamin B12 | Folic acid | Vitamin B12 and folic acid | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | n | % | n | % | |
| Number of participants | 202 | 201 | 204 | 184 | ||||
| Baseline study characteristics | ||||||||
| Child (6–30 months) | ||||||||
| Age baseline (months) | ||||||||
| Mean | 16·3 | 15·9 | 16·4 | 16 | ||||
| sd | 7·0 | 6·9 | 7·2 | 7·0 | ||||
| Boys | 108 | 53·5 % | 88 | 43·8 % | 101 | 49·5 % | 102 | 55·4 % |
| Still breastfed | 159 | 78·7 | 164 | 82 | 160 | 78·8 | 149 | 81 |
| Growth z-scores at baseline | ||||||||
| Weight-for-height z-scores (WHZ) | ||||||||
| Mean | –0·9 | –0·9 | –0·8 | –0·9 | ||||
| sd | 0·9 | 1·0 | 1·0 | 0·9 | ||||
| Height-for-age z-scores (HAZ) | ||||||||
| Mean | –1·8 | –1·8 | –1·8 | –1·7 | ||||
| sd | 1·8 | 1·7 | 1·2 | 1·1 | ||||
| Weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ) | ||||||||
| Mean | –1·7 | –1·6 | –1·5 | –1·6 | ||||
| sd | 1·0 | 1·1 | 1·1 | 1·0 | ||||
| Wasted (< –2 WHZ) | 23 | 11·4 | 27 | 13·4 | 21 | 10·3 | 19 | 10·3 |
| Stunted (< –2 HAZ) | 79 | 39·1 | 76 | 37·8 | 80 | 39·2 | 61 | 33·1 |
| Underweight (< –2 WAZ) | 65 | 32·2 | 65 | 32·3 | 65 | 31·9 | 52 | 28·3 |
| Biomarkers: | ||||||||
| Cobalamin (pmol/l) | ||||||||
| Mean | 296·5 | 317 | 309·6 | 330·2 | ||||
| sd | 166·5 | 202·1 | 199·4 | 195·1 | ||||
| Cobalamin < 200 pmol/l* | 64 | 31·7 | 69 | 34·3 | 74 | 36·5 | 49 | 26·6 |
| Folate (nmol/l) | ||||||||
| Mean | 15·2 | 15·2 | 16. 1 | 15·4 | ||||
| sd | 12·9 | 13·9 | 14·6 | 14·2 | ||||
| Folate < 7·5 nmol/l† | 57 | 28·2 | 64 | 31·8 | 62 | 29·9 | 73 | 39·6 |
| tHcy (μmol/l) | ||||||||
| Mean | 14·8 | 13·2 | 13·6 | 13·4 | ||||
| sd | 8·6 | 7·2 | 7·5 | 6·9 | ||||
| tHcy > 10 μmol/l‡ | 133 | 66·2 | 120 | 59·7 | 129 | 64·2 | 116 | 63·7 |
| Child characteristics at follow-up (6–9 years) | ||||||||
| Age at follow-up (years) | ||||||||
| Mean | 7·3 | 7·4 | 7·4 | 7·4 | ||||
| sd | 0·7 | 0·7 | 0·7 | 0·7 | ||||
| Schooling | ||||||||
| No school | 3 | 1·5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2·2 |
| Hindi medium | 74 | 37·4 | 64 | 32·2 | 52 | 25·7 | 52 | 28·3 |
| English medium | 121 | 61·1 | 131 | 65·8 | 148 | 73·3 | 128 | 69·6 |
| Family characteristics at follow-up | ||||||||
| Annual family income (INR × 1000) | ||||||||
| Median | 180 | 156 | 180 | 168 | ||||
| IQR | 120–336 | 120–288 | 120–300 | 120–288 | ||||
| Mothers’ years of schooling | ||||||||
| No schooling | 59 | 30·7 | 59 | 31·4 | 52 | 26·7 | 44 | 24·3 |
| Primary (1–5 years) | 24 | 12·5 | 24 | 12·8 | 27 | 13·8 | 26 | 14·4 |
| Middle (6–12 years) | 90 | 46·9 | 83 | 44·1 | 85 | 43·6 | 88 | 48·6 |
| Higher (> 12 years) | 19 | 9·9 | 22 | 11·7 | 31 | 15·9 | 23 | 12·7 |
| Fathers’ years of schooling | ||||||||
| No schooling | 23 | 11·4 | 18 | 8·9 | 20 | 9·8 | 20 | 10·9 |
| Primary (1–5 years) | 22 | 10·9 | 21 | 10·4 | 15 | 7·3 | 17 | 9·2 |
| Middle (6–12 years) | 131 | 64·8 | 141 | 70·1 | 136 | 66·7 | 119 | 64·7 |
| Higher (> 12 years) | 26 | 12·9 | 21 | 10·4 | 33 | 16·2 | 28 | 15·2 |
| Wealth quintile | ||||||||
| Poorest | 42 | 20·8 | 42 | 20·9 | 39 | 19·1 | 36 | 19·6 |
| Very poor | 43 | 21·3 | 51 | 25·4 | 34 | 16·7 | 30 | 16·3 |
| Poor | 37 | 18·3 | 42 | 20·9 | 35 | 17·2 | 44 | 23·9 |
| Less poor | 44 | 21·8 | 30 | 14·9 | 50 | 24·5 | 34 | 18·5 |
| Least poor | 36 | 17·8 | 36 | 17·9 | 46 | 22·5 | 40 | 21·7 |
*
Data available in 790 children at follow-up.
†
Data available in 791 at follow-up.
‡
Data available in 785 children at follow-up.