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. 2023 Sep 25;11:1251768. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1251768

Table 1.

Socio-demographic characteristics of study households.

Total
n % Mean SD
Total children 1,004
Sex
Male 479 47.2
Female 537 52.6
Number of HIV positive children 18 2.0
Number of children with a positive TB history 1 0.1
Number of children with any past medical historya 31 3.0
Number of children with a history of hospitalization for malnutrition 12 1.2
Severe thinness across all age groupsb 31 3.6
Moderate thinness across all age groupsb 45 5.2
Normal weight 639 73.3
Overweight/obese 75 8.6
Moderate stunting 180 20.0
Severe stunting 119 13.4
Total households (n = 393)
Number of family members in household 5.6 0.11
Presence of any family member with HIV 77 19.6 1.2 0.02
Presence of any family member with TB 17 4.4 1.0 0.01
Access to clean water 365 93.1 0.9 0.01
Role of respondent (n = 391)
Mother 304 77.8
Father 38 9.7
Grandparent 16 4.1
Child 19 4.9
Other 14 3.6
Income level of household (n = 389)
<1,000 kwachac 216 55.5
1,000–2,400 kwacha 131 33.7
>2,500 kwacha 42 10.8
Occupation of respondent (n = 392)
Unemployed 109 27.8
Business owner 108 27.6
Casual worker (maid or gardener) 83 21.2
Wage employment 52 13.3
Self-employed 35 8.9
Other 5 1.3
Education level of respondent (n = 389)
None 23 5.9
Some/completed primary school education 171 44.0
Some/completed secondary/high school 181 46.5
Tertiary education 12 3.1
Other (literacy class, religious school) 2 0.5
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
Access to clean water for washing hands (n = 392) 369 94.1
Access to clean water for cooking (n = 392) 365 93.1
Water source (n = 393)
Borehole 113 28.7
Communal tap 86 21.9
Protected dug well 17 4.3
Tapped running water 155 39.4
Other 22 5.6
Soap in the household (n = 390)
Yes 292 74.9
No 98 25.1
Number of children in each compound (n = 994)
Linda 296 29.8
Kuzimbva 263 26.5
Mwembeshi 239 24.0
Freedom 196 19.7

aHistory of medical problems include: asthma, neuro-related disorders (autism, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy), kidney problems, and sickle cell disease.

bAnalysis were run using both BMI for age across all age groups (6 months-19 years) and WHZ in children under 5 and BMI for age in children 5-19 years and results were unchanged.

c18.38 kwacha = 1 USD as of Feb 4, 2022.