Table 1.
Percentage distribution of nutritional status of children by background characteristics (Yemen 1997)*
| Characteristics | HAZ | WHZ | WAZ | Unweighted sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | ||||
| Coastal | 42.0 | 20.1 | 46.0 | 1920 |
| Mountainous | 58.8 | 12.9 | 52.1 | 1748 |
| Plateau | 52.9 | 9.4 | 43.2 | 3815 |
| Place of residence | ||||
| Urban | 40.3 | 10.4 | 35.6 | 2231 |
| Rural | 55.8 | 13.7 | 49.9 | 5252 |
| Age | ||||
| 0–5 | 16.4 | 10.9 | 12.9 | 906 |
| 6–11 | 33.1 | 18.9 | 41.8 | 1040 |
| 12–23 | 60.8 | 19.2 | 54.8 | 1540 |
| 24–35 | 58.0 | 10.4 | 53.4 | 1430 |
| 36–47 | 62.2 | 9.0 | 51.0 | 1297 |
| 48–59 | 64.7 | 8.3 | 50.8 | 1270 |
| Sex of the child | ||||
| Male | 52.3 | 13.7 | 47.0 | 3852 |
| Female | 51.0 | 12.0 | 45.2 | 3649 |
| Has fever | ||||
| Yes | 51.0 | 16.2 | 49.8 | 2941 |
| No | 52.1 | 10.7 | 43.8 | 4538 |
| Had diarrhoea recently | ||||
| Yes | 53.1 | 17.3 | 51.9 | 2060 |
| No | 51.2 | 11.2 | 44.0 | 5436 |
| Age of mother at birth | ||||
| Less than 20 years | 54.7 | 11.3 | 47.3 | 1115 |
| 20–29 years | 51.7 | 12.8 | 45.5 | 3871 |
| 30 and above | 50.4 | 13.7 | 46.5 | 2515 |
| Mother's education | ||||
| Illiterate | 54.3 | 13.4 | 48.5 | 5987 |
| Literate | 47.0 | 12.6 | 39.5 | 528 |
| Primary | 41.6 | 9.2 | 36.0 | 598 |
| Preparatory | 30.5 | 10.7 | 34.3 | 174 |
| Secondary and above | 18.5 | 7.9 | 19.1 | 233 |
| Socio‐economic status | ||||
| Low | 57.0 | 15.7 | 52.7 | 2502 |
| Medium | 56.5 | 12.5 | 48.5 | 2540 |
| High | 38.9 | 9.7 | 34.5 | 2412 |
| Number of prenatal visits | ||||
| 0 | 55.2 | 13.5 | 50.0 | 4604 |
| 1–3 | 49.9 | 11.9 | 42.0 | 1833 |
| 4+ | 38.6 | 11.3 | 35.9 | 992 |
| Smoked during pregnancy | ||||
| Yes | 57.5 | 14.9 | 53.6 | 1536 |
| No | 50.2 | 12.4 | 44.2 | 5945 |
| Chewed qat during pregnancy | ||||
| Yes | 50.2 | 12.4 | 44.2 | 6099 |
| No | 57.6 | 14.9 | 53.6 | 1368 |
| Total | 51.7 | 12.9 | 46.1 | 7483 |
HAZ, height‐for‐age; WHZ, weight‐for‐height; WAZ, weight‐for‐age; *chi‐square test is used (all variables are significant at P < 0.05).