TABLE 1.
Baseline maternal characteristics at enrollment by study groupa
| Characteristics | Folic acid (n = 282) | Iron-folic acid (n = 278) | Multiple micronutrient (n = 274) | P valueb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maternal age, y | 23.4 ± 2.5 | 23.1 ± 2.2 | 23.5 ± 2.5 | 0.13 |
| Education (%) | 0.83 | |||
| Primary or less | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.6 | |
| Secondary | 85.5 | 83.1 | 83.9 | |
| High school or above | 13.1 | 15.1 | 13.5 | |
| Ethnicity (%) | 0.06 | |||
| Han | 96.1 | 98.6 | 98.9 | |
| Other | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.1 | |
| Occupation (%) | 0.33 | |||
| Farmer | 90.4 | 93.2 | 89.8 | |
| Other | 9.6 | 6.8 | 10.2 | |
| Body-mass index (kg/m2, %) | 0.87 | |||
| <18.5 | 6.4 | 6.9 | 8.0 | |
| 18.5–24.9 | 74.8 | 74.8 | 75.2 | |
| 25.0–29.9 | 16.0 | 14.0 | 14.2 | |
| ≥30.0 | 2.8 | 4.3 | 2.6 | |
| Height (cm) | 159.7 ± 4.8 | 160.4 ± 5.4 | 160.1 ± 4.9 | 0.32 |
| Gestational week (%) | 0.43 | |||
| <12 | 50.4 | 55.0 | 55.1 | |
| ≥12 | 49.6 | 45.0 | 44.9 | |
| Hemoglobin (g/l, %) | 0.10 | |||
| 100–109 | 5.3 | 7.2 | 3.3 | |
| 110–119 | 25.2 | 18.7 | 18.6 | |
| 120–129 | 39.0 | 45.7 | 47.1 | |
| ≥130 | 30.5 | 28.4 | 31.0 |
a
Plus–minus values are means ±SD.
b
Chi-square tests were used to examine statistical differences in categorical variables and analysis of variance to examine differences in means among study groups.