TABLE 1.
Household and individual characteristics by maternal supplementation group for participating children aged 6–8 y in rural Nepal, 2006–2008
| Maternal supplementation group |
|||||
| Control (n = 735)1 | Folic acid (n = 658) | Folic acid + iron (n = 674) | Folic acid + iron + zinc (n = 708) | Multiple micronutrient (n = 749) | |
| n (%) | |||||
| Ethnicity2 | |||||
| Pahadi | 204 (27.8) | 205 (31.2) | 197 (29.2) | 218 (30.8) | 184 (24.6) |
| Madheshi | 531 (72.2) | 453 (68.8) | 477 (70.8) | 490 (69.2) | 565 (75.4) |
| Family asset ownership (any vs none) | |||||
| Goats | 454 (62.1) | 431 (65.5) | 424 (62.9) | 489 (69.3) | 485 (64.8) |
| Cattle | 501 (68.4) | 463 (70.4) | 483 (71.7) | 495 (70.1) | 510 (68.2) |
| Land | 532 (73.5) | 515 (78.6) | 533 (79.6) | 519 (73.7) | 593 (80.0) |
| Radio | 233 (31.8) | 220 (33.4) | 221 (32.8) | 239 (33.9) | 252 (33.7) |
| Literacy | |||||
| Child | 129 (17.9) | 100 (15.2) | 98 (14.6) | 140 (19.9) | 109 (14.7) |
| Mother | 156 (21.4) | 120 (18.3) | 145 (21.6) | 146 (20.7) | 147 (19.8) |
| Religion/caste3 | |||||
| Hindu-Brahmin | 64 (8.8) | 47 (7.1) | 36 (5.3) | 47 (6.7) | 40 (5.4) |
| Hindu-Chetri | 57 (7.8) | 28 (4.3) | 58 (8.6) | 55 (7.8) | 46 (6.2) |
| Hindu-Vaishya | 412 (56.4) | 450 (68.4) | 467 (69.3) | 464 (65.7) | 496 (66.4) |
| Hindu-Shudra | 99 (13.5) | 84 (12.8) | 62 (9.2) | 102 (14.4) | 107 (14.3) |
| Muslim | 98 (13.4) | 43 (6.5) | 47 (7.0) | 31 (4.4) | 55 (7.4) |
| Buddhist or Christian | 2 (0.3) | 6 (0.9) | 4 (0.6) | 7 (1.0) | 3 (0.4) |
| Child supplement group34 | |||||
| Iron | 174 (23.6) | 143 (21.7) | 167 (24.8) | 139 (19.7) | 223 (29.8) |
| Iron + zinc | 203 (27.6) | 182 (27.6) | 225 (33.3) | 125 (17.6) | 95 (12.7) |
| Zinc | 158 (21.5) | 162 (24.6) | 165 (24.3) | 253 (35.8) | 189 (25.2) |
| Placebo | 184 (25.0) | 153 (23.2) | 106 (15.6) | 179 (25.2) | 228 (30.4) |
| Nonparticipant | 16 (2.2) | 18 (2.9) | 11 (1.9) | 12 (1.7) | 14 (1.9) |
Total sample size. Data were missing for animal ownership (n = 6), radio ownership (n = 6), land ownership (n = 30), child literacy (n = 30), maternal literacy (n = 24), and religion/caste (n = 7).
Pahadis originate from the hills of Nepal, and Madheshis originate from the plains of northern India.
P < 0.001 across groups (chi-square test).
Children were invited to participate in a randomized controlled trial of iron and/or zinc supplementation during childhood. All children in the study area between the ages of 1 and 36 mo were eligible for enrollment, and 3458 children included in this analysis participated, with enrollment at a median age of 23 mo.