Table 1.
General characteristics of study participants by total sample and mother's age group
| General characteristics | All participants (n 247) | 18–29 years (n 148) | 30–45 years (n 99) | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | ±sd | Mean | ±sd | Mean | ±sd | ||
| Mother age (years) | 28·6 | 5·4 | 24·9 | 2·5 | 34·0 | 3·8 | |
| Mother height (cm)a | 158·2 | 6·0 | 158·4 | 6·0 | 157·9 | 6·0 | 0·572 |
| Mother weight (kg)a | 63·7 | 12·8 | 60·9 | 12·2 | 67·9 | 12·6 | 0·000 |
| Mother current BMI (kg/m2)a | 26·1 | 12·6 | 25·5 | 15·6 | 27·2 | 5·1 | 0·285 |
| BMI category | N | % | N | % | N | % | Pb |
| Normal weight | 127 | 51·4 | 91 | 61·4 | 36·3 | 36·6 | 0·001 |
| Overweight | 78 | 31·6 | 41 | 27·7 | 37 | 37·4 | |
| Obese | 42 | 17 | 16 | 10·8 | 26 | 26·3 | |
| Mother education levelb | |||||||
| High school and under | 48 | 19·4 | 26 | 17·6 | 22 | 22·2 | 0·119 |
| Bachelor/College | 176 | 71·3 | 112 | 75·7 | 64 | 64·7 | |
| Postgraduate | 23 | 9·3 | 10 | 6·7 | 13 | 13·1 | |
| Smokingb | |||||||
| Yes | 13 | 5·3 | 7 | 4·7 | 6 | 6·1 | 0·646 |
| Number of cigarettes (yes; n 13)b | |||||||
| 1–4 | 9 | 69·2 | 5 | 71·4 | 3 | 50·0 | 0·558 |
| ≥5 | 4 | 30·8 | 2 | 28·6 | 3 | 50·0 | |
| Family income (Saudi Riyal)b | |||||||
| ≤4·000 | 42 | 17·0 | 30 | 20·3 | 12 | 12·1 | 0·122 |
| 5·000–11·999 | 120 | 48·6 | 73 | 49·3 | 47 | 47·5 | |
| 12·000–19·999 | 59 | 23·9 | 33 | 22·3 | 26 | 26·3 | |
| ≥20·000 | 26 | 10·5 | 12 | 8·1 | 14 | 14·1 | |
| Mother occupationb | |||||||
| Student | 43 | 17·4 | 39 | 26·3 | 4 | 4·0 | 0·000 |
| Employed (full time) | 43 | 17·4 | 17 | 11·5 | 26 | 26·3 | |
| Employed (part time) | 24 | 9·7 | 10 | 6·7 | 14 | 14·1 | |
| Housewife | 137 | 55·5 | 82 | 55·4 | 55 | 55·6 | |
| Current use of contraceptiveb | |||||||
| Yes | 151 | 61·1 | 97 | 65·5 | 54 | 54·5 | 0·097 |
| Type of contraceptive (yes; n 151)b | |||||||
| Pills for BF | 36 | 23·8 | 17 | 17·5 | 19 | 35·2 | 0·025 |
| Ordinary pills | 34 | 22·5 | 28 | 28·9 | 6 | 11·1 | |
| IUD | 27 | 17·9 | 17 | 17·5 | 10 | 18·5 | |
| Arithmetic | 43 | 28·5 | 26 | 26·8 | 17 | 31·5 | |
| Implant | 11 | 7·3 | 9 | 9·3 | 2 | 3·7 | |
| Number of children | 2·1 | 1·3 | 1·6 | 0·7 | 2·9 | 1·5 | 0·000 |
| Delivery typeb | 0·973 | ||||||
| Vaginal | 155 | 62·8 | 93 | 62·8 | 62 | 62·6 | |
| Caesarean section | 92 | 37·2 | 55 | 37·2 | 37 | 37·4 | |
| Infant genderb | |||||||
| Male | 106 | 42·9 | 67 | 45·3 | 39 | 39·4 | 0·361 |
| Female | 141 | 57·1 | 81 | 54·7 | 60 | 60·6 | |
| Infant birth weight (kg)a | 2·8 | 0·6 | 2·8 | 0·6 | 2·8 | 0·6 | 0·921 |
| Singleton | 241 | 97·6 | 144 | 97·3 | 97 | 97·9 | 0·733 |
a
Differences were assessed by using independent sample t-test.
b
Univariate analyses using cross-tabulation and χ2 statistical tests to compare the differences between mothers’ different age groups.