Table 1.

Comparison of the groups with regard to children, biochemical characteristics, water iron concentration, total iron intake and morbidities between the treatment groups at baseline and over the intervention period

	Standard MNP (n, 26)		Low-iron MNP (n, 27)		p value**
	Mean ± SD	Median (IQR)	Mean ± SD	Median (IQR)
Baseline
Age (months)	42.8 ± 7.7		42.1 ± 7.8		0.74
Iron concentration in groundwater (mg/L)	14.9 ± 3.4	4.4 (3.7,12.6)	13.1 ± 3.1	4.2 (3.5,8.2)	0.07
Serum ferritin (ng/ml)	82.9 ± 36.9	81.9 (56.3,96.8)	71.4 ± 32.7	69.3 (54.2,94.6)	0.30
CRP (mg/L)	2.0 ± 2.6	1.0 (0.3,2.8)	1.9 ± 5.5	0.3 (0.3,0.5)	0.97
AGP (mg/dL)	83.6 ± 31.0	75.0 (62.0,74.0)	65.4 ± 17.1	62.5 (55.0,73.0)	0.02
Over the intervention
Total Fe intake* (mg/day)	20.9 ± 5.6	18.7 (17.2,22.4)	12.5 ± 5.1	11.5 (9.5,14.6)	< 0.001
Mean episodes of loose stool	1.65 ± 5.7	0 (0,0)	1.48 ± 3.3	0 (0,0)	0.89

^*Intake of iron from the combined sources of diet, groundwater and MNPs

^**p values in relation to the mean difference