Table 4.
Socio-economic characteristics of 507 rural schoolchildren aged 6–10 years from 12 Mexican communities, 1997–2000.
| Characteristics | Sinaloa n = 356 | Oaxaca n = 151 | p value |
| Mother | |||
| Unemployed (%) | 65 (231)e | 59 (89)e | 0.59d |
| Employed (%) | 35 (125)e | 41 (62)e | 0.44d |
| Primary education in years | 5 (3.7)a (18)e | 4.5 (2.8)a (7)e | 0.79b |
| Father | |||
| Unemployed (%) | 9 (32)e | 10 (15)e | 0.88d |
| Employed (%) | 91(324)e | 90 (136)e | 0.99d |
| Primary education in years | 4.0 (3.5)a (14)e | 3.8 (3.2)a (6)e | 0.70b |
| Household conditions | |||
| Walls | |||
| Block/cement (%) | 67 (239)e | 31 (47)e | <0.0001d |
| Adobe (%) | 17 (61)e | 26 (39)e | |
| Bamboo/mud (%) | 12 (43)e | 24 (36)e | |
| Board laminate/wood (%) | 4 (14)e | 19 (29)e | |
| Roof | |||
| Concrete (%) | 80 (285)e | 13 (20)e | <0.0001d |
| Metal laminate/wood (%) | 16 (57)e | 83 (296)e | |
| Board laminate/wood (%) | 4 (14)e | 4 (14)e | |
| Floor | |||
| Bare-earth (%) | 37 (132)e | 47 (71)e | 0.20d |
| Cement (%) | 63 (224)e | 53 (80)e | 0.32d |
| Crowding indexc | 4 (14)e | 6 (9)e | 0.34b |
| Sanitation facilities | |||
| Defecation in Open Area (%) | 8 (29)e | 28 (42)e | <0.0001d |
| Pit (%) | 68 (242)e | 63 (95)e | |
| Latrine (%) | 24 (85)e | 9 (14)e | |
| Drinking water | |||
| Treated water (%) | 47 (167)e | 70 (106)e | <0.01d |
| Untreated water (%) | 53 (189)e | 30 (45)e | <0.01d |
| Family income | 4 times minimum daily wage | 1 minimum daily wage | <0.001b |
a Mean (standard deviation); b Student t-test; c Mean of number people per room; d Chi square test; e Frequency or number of individuals.