Table 2.
Baseline socio-demographic characteristics of the participants from four readymade garment factories.
| Variables | Lunch Meal | Non-Meal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I (n = 326) | C (n = 328) | p | I (n = 328) | C (n = 328) | p | |
| n (%) | Factory A | Factory B | Factory C | Factory D | ||
| Age in years | ||||||
| 18–22 | 60 (18.4) | 47 (14.3) | NS | 40 (12.2) | 29 (8.8) | NS |
| 23–27 | 110 (33.7) | 127 (38.7) | 109 (33.2) | 88 (26.8) | ||
| 28–32 | 100 (30.7) | 101 (30.8) | 109 (33.2) | 129 (39.3) | ||
| 33–37 | 36 (11.0) | 41 (12.5) | 56 (17.1) | 63 (19.2) | ||
| 38–42 | 20 (6.1) | 12 (3.7) | 14 (4.3) | 19 (5.8) | ||
| Worker type | ||||||
| Fresher/trainee | 14 (4) | 12 (3.7) | NS | 29 (8.8) | 17 (5.2) | NS |
| Permanent | 312 (95.7) | 316 (96.3) | 299 (91.2) | 311 (94.8) | ||
| Religion | ||||||
| Islam | 316 (96.9) | 317 (96.6) | NS | 291 (88.7) | 306 (93.3) | NS |
| Hindu | 10 (3.1) | 10 (3.0) | 35 (10.7) | 22 (6.7) | ||
| Christian | 0 (0) | 1 (0.3) | 2 (0.6) | 0 (0) | ||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Married | 238 (73.0) | 259 (79) | 0.004 | 264 (80.5) | 281 (85.7) | 0.005 |
| Unmarried | 58 (17.8) | 30 (9.1) | 36 (10.9) | 14 (4.3) | ||
| Divorced/separated/widow | 30 (9.2) | 39 (11.9) | 28 (8.5) | 33 (10.1) | ||
| Household ownership | ||||||
| Own house | 9 (2.8) | 165 (50.3) | <0.001 | 8 (2.4) | 14 (4.3) | NS |
| Rented house | 317 (97.2) | 163 (49.7) | 320 (97.6) | 314 (95.7) | ||
| Education | ||||||
| Formal education | 286 (87.7) | 297 (90.5) | NS | 260 (79.3) | 278 (84.8) | NS |
| Asset quintile | ||||||
| Poorest | 61 (19) | 93 (28) | <0.001 | 83 (25.3) | 81 (24.7) | NS |
| Poorer | 58 (18) | 86 (26) | 91 (27.7) | 71 (21.7) | ||
| Middle | 63 (19) | 61 (19) | 63 (19.2) | 83 (25.3) | ||
| Richer | 59 (18) | 58 (18) | 62 (18.9) | 57 (17.4) | ||
| Richest | 85 (26) | 30 (9) | 29 (8.8) | 36 (11.0) | ||
| Works at overtime, n (%) | 316 (97) | 323 (98) | 0.018 | 309 (94) | 325 (99) | 0.001 |
| Hours of overtime per months, mean (SD) | 33 (10) | 41 (9) | <0.001 | 44 (19) | 47 (12) | 0.02 |
| Total Income in USD, median (IQR) | 100 (87.5, 108.8) | 108 (100, 112.7) | <0.001 | 104 (91.2, 117.7) | 108.8 (97.5, 116.3) | 0.006 |
| Total Expenditure in USD, median (IQR) | 93.8 (84.6, 106.3) | 100 (87.5, 114.4) | 0.001 | 101.3 (87.5, 112.5) | 106.3 (82.5, 112.5) | NS |
| Anemia, n (%) | 198 (60.7) | 109 (33.2) | <0.001 | 157 (47.9) | 119 (36.3) | 0.002 |
Abbreviation: I: intervention; C: control; IQR: interquartile range; NS: p-values were not significant at 0.05 or 5% level; USD: US dollar. Continuous variables are presented by mean ± SD and categorical variables are presented as the percentage of participants (%). Note: 1 USD = 80.00 Bangladeshi Taka.