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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2013 Jun 5.
Published in final edited form as: J Nutr. 2010 Mar 24;140(5):1014–1022. doi: 10.3945/jn.109.118075

Table 1.

General characteristics of the study cohort1

Variable Boys
n=259
Girls
n=277
All
n=536
Maternal characteristics in Pregnancy
 Age (y) 24.0 ± 4.2 23.8 ± 4.2 23.9 ± 4.2
 Parity - 0 - No (%) 125 (48.3) 147 (53.1) 272 (50.8)
  1 - No (%) 88 (34.0) 88 (31.8) 176 (32.8)
  2or more – No (%) 46 (17.8) 42 (15.2) 88 (16.4)
 Height (cm) 154.1 ± 5.5 154.5 ± 5.3 154.3 ± 5.4
 Body mass index (kg/m2) 22.9 (21.0, 25.6) 23.5 (21.0, 26.5) 23.2 (21.0, 26.1)
 Plasma folate concentration (nmol/L) 34.1 ± 19.2 35.4 ± 19.3 34.7 ± 19.2
 Low folate concentration –No (%) 11 (4.3) 11 (4.0) 22 (4.1)
 Plasma vitamin B-12 concentration (pmol/L) 183.0 (126.0, 226.0) 153.0 (123.0,207.0) 162.5 (124.0,220.0)
 Low vitamin B-12 concentration –No (%) 98 (37.8) 130 (46.9) 228 (42.5)
 Plasma homocysteine concentration (μmol/L) 6.0 (5.0, 6.9) 6.0 (5.1, 7.1) 6.0 (5.1, 7.0)
 Hyperhomocysteinemia – No (%) 8 (3.1) 10 (3.7) 18 (3.4)
Children’s Characteristics
Tests of cognitive function
 Atlantis (score) 67.5 ± 17.8 67.6 ± 16.7 67.6 ± 17.2
 Word order (score) 16.1 ± 2.5 16.7 ± 2.6 16.4 ± 2.5
 Pattern reasoning (score) 9.0 (4.0, 13.0) 11.0 (6.0, 14.0) 10.0 (5.0, 14.0)
 Verbal fluency (score) -Animals 11.9 ± 3.2 12.2 ± 3.4 12.0 ± 3.3
    -First names 14.7 ± 4.1 17.4 ± 5.3 16.1 ± 4.9
 Kohs block design (score) 76.9 (63.7, 88.0) 76.2 (63.1, 88.4) 76.6 (63.3, 88.4)
 Coding-WISC-III2 (score) 30.1 ± 7.5 35.0 ± 8.0 32.7 ± 8.1
At birth
 Gestational age (wk) 39.1 ± 1.7 39.5 ± 1.5 39.3 ± 1.6
 Birthweight (kg) 2.908 ± 0.471 2.840 ± 0.437 2.873 ± 0.454
 Head circumference (cm) 34.1 ± 1.4 33.5 ± 1.3 33.8 ± 1.4
At the time of testing
 Age (y) 9.7 ± 0.3 9.7 ± 0.3 9.7 ± 0.3
 Body mass index (kg/m2) 14.5 ± 1.7 14.6 ± 2.0 14.6 ± 1.8
 Body mass index WHO SD score −1.3 ± 1.2 −1.2 ± 1.2
 Height (cm) 131.1 ± 5.5 130.3 ± 6.0 130.7 ± 5.8
 Height WHO SD score −0.6 ± 0.8 −0.8 ± 0.9
 Head circumference (cm) 50.7 ± 1.4 50.5 ± 1.5 50.6 ± 1.4
 Plasma vitamin B-12concentration (pmol/L) 338.9 ± 160.1 351.3 ± 169.5 345.4 ± 165.0
 Low vitamin B-12 concentration -No (%) 5 (2.1) 8 (3.1) 13 (2.6)
 Plasma folate concentration (nmol/L) 28.6 ± 15.3 29.1 ± 14.8 28.8 ± 15.0
 Low folate concentration –No (%) 0 (0.0) 1 (0.4) 1 (0.2)
Parents socio-economic status
 Standard of living index (score) 36.1 ± 7.9 36.3 ± 8.6 36.2 ± 8.3
Maternal education –No (%)
 <10 completed y 106 (41.1) 88 (31.8) 194 (36.3)
 −10 completed y 74 (28.7) 91 (32.9) 165 (30.8)
 >10 completed y 78 (30.2) 98 (35.4) 176 (32.9)
Paternal education –No (%)
 <10 completed y 105 (40.7) 100 (36.1) 205 (38.3)
 −10 completed y 92 (35.7) 116 (41.9) 20 (38.9)
 >10 completed y 61 (23.6) 61 (22.0) 122 (22.8)
Residence - Rural –No (%) 77 (29.7) 70 (25.3) 147 (27.4)
  - Urban –No (%) 182 (70.3) 207 (74.7) 389 (72.6)
Religion - Hindu3 - No (%) 145 (56.0) 164 (59.2) 309 (57.7)
   Muslim4 - No (%) 90 (34.8) 92 (33.2) 182 (34.0)
   Christian5 – No (%) 24 (9.2) 21 (7.6) 45 (8.4)
1

Values are mean ± SD or median (Inter quartile range) or No (%)

2

Wechsler intelligence scale for children-III

3

Maternal folate and Vitamin B-12 deficiency among Hindus (3.2% and 50.5% respectively)

4

Maternal folate and Vitamin B-12 deficiency among Muslims (6.0% and 30.2% respectively)

5

Maternal folate and Vitamin B-12 deficiency among Christians (2.2% and 37.8% respectively)