Table 1.
Infant and maternal characteristics in the present study cohort overall and stratified by child sex
| Characteristics | Total cohort (n 599) | Boys (n 296) | Girls (n 303) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n or mean or median | % or sd or min, max | n or mean or median | % or sd or min, max | n or mean or median | % or sd or min, max | |
| Infant characteristics | ||||||
| Gestational age at birth (weeks), median (min, max) | 39 | 32, 43 | 39 | 33, 43 | 39 | 32, 43 |
| Preterm (<37 weeks), n (%) | 50 | 8 | 26 | 9 | 24 | 8 |
| Mode of delivery, n (%) | ||||||
| Vaginal birth | 281 | 47 | 135 | 46 | 146 | 48 |
| Caesarean section | 318 | 53 | 161 | 54 | 157 | 52 |
| Infant anthropometry, mean ± sd | ||||||
| Birth weight (g)* | 2715 | 352 | 2777 | 363 | 2659 | 333 |
| Length at birth (cm)† | 47·4 | 2·0 | 47·8 | 1·9 | 47·0 | 2·0 |
| WAZ at birth* | –1·20 | 0·89 | –1·16 | 0·89 | –1·24 | 0·89 |
| LAZ at birth† | –0·91 | 1·04 | –0·86 | 0·99 | –0·96 | 1·08 |
| EBF duration (weeks), median (min, max)‡ | 14 | 0, 26 | 14 | 0, 26 | 14 | 0, 26 |
| At least one diarrhoeal episode, n (%)§ | 283 | 47 | 153 | 52 | 130 | 43 |
| Maternal characteristics | ||||||
| Age (years), median (min, max) | 23 | 18, 40 | 23 | 18, 38 | 23 | 18, 40 |
| Height (cm), mean ± sd | 150·8 | 5·5 | 151·0 | 5·3 | 150·5 | 5·7 |
| Level of education, n (%) | ||||||
| No schooling | 25 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 15 | 5 |
| Primary incomplete | 113 | 19 | 50 | 17 | 63 | 21 |
| Primary complete | 87 | 15 | 43 | 15 | 44 | 15 |
| Secondary incomplete | 251 | 42 | 129 | 44 | 122 | 40 |
| Secondary complete or higher | 123 | 21 | 64 | 22 | 59 | 19 |
| Mid-gestation Hb concentration (g/l), mean ± sd | 107 | 11 | 106 | 11 | 107 | 11 |
| Vitamin D intervention group, n (%) | ||||||
| Placebo | 114 | 19 | 51 | 17 | 63 | 21 |
| 4200 IU/week | 126 | 21 | 64 | 22 | 62 | 21 |
| 16 800 IU/week | 120 | 20 | 63 | 21 | 57 | 19 |
| 28 000 IU/week | 121 | 20 | 56 | 19 | 65 | 21 |
| 28 000 IU/week prenatal and postpartum | 118 | 20 | 62 | 21 | 56 | 19 |
| Household characteristics | ||||||
| Asset index quintiles, n (%)|| | ||||||
| 1 (lowest) | 113 | 19 | 57 | 19 | 56 | 19 |
| 2 | 118 | 20 | 64 | 22 | 54 | 18 |
| 3 | 119 | 20 | 50 | 17 | 69 | 23 |
| 4 | 131 | 22 | 61 | 21 | 70 | 23 |
| 5 (highest) | 116 | 19 | 64 | 22 | 52 | 17 |
| Household smoking, n (%)¶ | 214 | 36 | 107 | 36 | 107 | 35 |
| Treatment of drinking water, n (%) | 265 | 44 | 132 | 45 | 133 | 44 |
| Presence of soap at handwashing station, n (%)** | 499 | 83 | 249 | 84 | 250 | 83 |
aBMD, areal bone mineral density; BMC, bone mineral content; EBF, exclusive breastfeeding; HAZ, height-for-age z-score; LAZ, length-for-age z-score; WAZ, weight-for-age z-score; TBLH, total body less head.
n 427 for the entire cohort, n 203 for boys, and n 224 for girls.
n 423 for the entire cohort, n 200 for boys, and n 223 for girls.
The maximum duration of EBF was an artifact of the study design which truncated this data up to the first 26 weeks of life.
Presence of at least one diarrhoeal episode in the first 6 months of life (yes v. no).
n 597 for the entire cohort and n 301 for girls. Asset index quintile variable derived using principal component analysis as measure of indicators of socioeconomic status based on ownership of claimed household items.
n 597 for the entire cohort and n 294 for boys.
n 598 for the entire cohort and n 295 for boys.