Table 1.
Child, maternal and household characteristics of the study participants at baseline by intervention group 1.
| Characteristics | All (n = 512) | PZ (n = 131) | MNP (n = 127) | TZ (n = 127) | CONTROL (n = 127) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mo | 15.6 ± 5.0 | 15.3 ± 5.2 | 15.9 ± 5.0 | 15.8 ± 4.8 | 15.4 ± 5.0 |
| Gender, female | 283 (55.3) | 79 (60.3) | 64 (50.4) | 73 (57.5) | 67 (52.8) |
| Breastfeeding | 298 (64.4) | 72 (63.7) | 70 (62.5) | 78 (65.6) | 78 (65.6) |
| 2 Adequate dietary diversity | 167 (35.9) | 39 (34.5) | 39 (34.5) | 38 (31.7) | 51 (42.9) |
| 3 Minimum meal frequency | 258 (55.7) | 63 (55.8) | 60 (53.6) | 65 (54.6) | 70 (58.8) |
| Consumption of iron rich foods | 371 (79.8) | 83 (73.5) | 93 (82.3) | 101 (84.2) | 94 (79.0) |
| Child anthropometric measures | |||||
| Length, cm | 73.8 ± 5.4 | 73.3 ± 5.6 | 74.0 ± 5.2 | 73.6 ± 5.2 | 74.5 ± 5.6 |
| Weight, kg | 8.5 ± 1.3 | 8.3 ± 1.3 | 8.5 ± 1.3 | 8.5 ± 1.3 | 8.8 ± 1.3 |
| MUAC, cm | 13.9 ± 1.0 | 13.8 ± 1.0 | 13.9 ± 1.0 | 14.0 ± 1.0 | 14.1 ± 1.0 |
| LAZ | −0.71 ± 1.08 | −1.79 ± 1.10 | −1.79 ± 1.10 | −1.86 ± 1.07 | −1.41 ± 1.07 |
| WAZ | −1.42 ± 0.99 | −1.52 ± 1.00 | −1.52 ± 1.04 | −1.51 ± 0.96 | −1.14 ± 0.93 |
| WLZ | −0.74 ± 0.86 | −0.81 ± 0.89 | −0.82 ± 0.86 | −0.76 ± 0.87 | −0.57 ± 0.82 |
| Stunting | 195 (38.2) | 52 (40.0) | 52 (40.9) | 54 (42.5) | 37 (29.1) |
| Wasting | 32 (6.3) | 11 (8.5) | 12 (9.5) | 7 (5.5) | 2 (1.6) |
| Underweight | 139 (27.2) | 40 (30.8) | 41 (32.3) | 38 (29.9) | 20 (15.8) |
| Elevated CRP (>5 mg/L) | 55 (11.3) | 16 (12.6) | 9 (7.44) | 14 (11.5) | 16 (13.9) |
| Elevated AGP (>1 g/L) | 97 (20.0) | 27 (21.3) | 24 (19.8) | 22 (18.0) | 24 (20.9) |
| Hair cortisol concentrations, pg/mg | 21.7 (13.8–35.1) | 27.0 (14.7–38.3) | 19.4 (12.5–29.7) | 21.0 (13.4–34.4) | 21.5 (14.0–34.0) |
| Maternal education, primary or lower | 267 (53.3) | 72 (56.7) | 67 (52.8) | 64 (51.6) | 64 (52.0) |
| Maternal BMI, kg/m2 | 22.0 ± 3.3 | 21.8 ± 3.1 | 22.2 ± 3.2 | 21.9 ± 3.4 | 22.0 ± 3.5 |
| HFIAS | |||||
| Food secure | 131 (25.9) | 35 (27.3) | 35 (28.2) | 25 (19.7) | 36 (28.6) |
| Mildly food insecure | 148 (29.3) | 35 (27.3) | 37 (29.8) | 39 (30.7) | 37 (29.4) |
| Moderately food insecure | 141 (27.9) | 26 (20.3) | 36 (29.0) | 42 (33.1) | 37 (29.4) |
| Severely food insecure | 85 (16.8) | 32 (25.0) | 16 (12.9) | 21 (16.5) | 16 (12.7) |
1 Values presented as n (%), means ± SDs or medians (IQRs). AGP: α1-acid glycoprotein; BMI: body mass index; CRP: C-reactive protein; HFIAS: household food insecurity access scale [38]; LAZ: length-for-age z-score; MNP: micronutrient powder; MUAC: mid-upper arm circumference; PZ: preventive zinc; TZ: therapeutic zinc; WAZ, weight-for-age z-score; WLZ, weight-for-length z-score. 2 Adequate dietary diversity: Proportion of children 6–23 months of age who receive foods from 4 or more food groups. 3 Minimum meal frequency: Proportion of breastfed and non-breastfed children 6–23 months of age who receive solid, semi-solid, or soft foods the minimum number of times or more.