Table 1.
Baseline characteristic of mothers and children in a remote Aboriginal community (n = 62)
| Maternal/primary carer characteristics | Number (%) or Mean [SD] or Median {25th to 75th centile} |
|---|---|
| Grade of education | |
| Year 8–10 | 15/ 62(24.2) |
| Year 11 | 32/62 (51.6) |
| Year 12 | 15/ 62 (24.2) |
| Joba | |
| Receiving unemployment benefits | 61/62 (98.4) |
| Employed | 5/62 (8.6) |
| Body mass index | |
| Underweight (BMI < 18.5) | 14/62 (22.6) |
| Normal (18.5 to 24.9) | 31/62 (50) |
| Overweight (> = 25) | 12/62 (19.4) |
| Obese (> = 30) | 5/62 (8.1) |
| Mid-upper arm circumference (cm)b | 23.7[3.96] |
| Environmental | |
| Presence of dogs in the house | 34/62 (54.8) |
| Smoker in the house | 54/62 (87.1) |
| Household ran out of food in the last 2 weeks | 36/62 (58.1) |
| Child missed a meal in last 2 weeks | 29/62 (46.8) |
| Presence of fridge in house | 54/62 (87.1) |
| Number of people living in the house | 6.3 [7.4] |
| Number of bedrooms in the house | 3.3 [1.4] |
| Attendance at playgroup | 49/62 (79.0) |
| Use of traditional medicine | 44/62 (70.9) |
| Number of times mother washes hands/day | |
| 1–2 times/day | 45 /62(72.6) |
| > 2 times/day | 17/62 (27.4) |
| Child uses soap | 48/62 (77.4) |
| Child characteristics | |
| Sex | |
| Male | 31/62 (50) |
| Female | 31/62 (50) |
| Age (months) | 10.6 {6.4 to 15.3} |
| Child currently breast fed | 54/62 (87.1) |
| Exclusively breast fed | 40/62 (64.5.) |
| Child ever bottle fed | 22/62 (35.5) |
| Age complementary feeding started (months) | 5.5 [1.3] |
aAnswer may be both
b Six cases have missing data