Risk factors of malnutrition among preschool children in Terengganu, Malaysia: a case control study

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Comparison of socio-economic characteristics between cases and controls

Variable	Case (n = 137)		Control (n = 137)
	Mean ± sd	n (%)	Mean ± sd	n (%)	p value
Child’s age (month)
0-5	5		4
6-11	8		8
12-23	19		19
24-35	30		29
36-47	40		41
48-59	54		54
Child’s sex					0.003
Female		88 (64.2)		65 (47.4)
Male		49 (35.8)		72 (52.6)
Mother’s age (years)	31 ± 6		30 ± 7		0.300
Father’s age (years)	36 ± 7		34 ± 7		0.170
Mother’s ethnicity					1.000
Malay		137 (100)		137 (100)
Father’s ethnicity					0.990
Malay		130 (99.2)		132 (99.2)
Mother’s educational level					0.003
Primary and less		15 (11)		11 (8.0)
Secondary		103 (75.2)		83 (60.6)
Tertiary		19 (13.8)		43 (31.4)
Father’s educational level					0.090
Primary and less		18 (13.7)		8 (6)
Secondary		89 (68)		94 (70.7)
Tertiary		24 (18.3)		31 (23.3)
Mother’s working status					0.049
Housewife		91 (66.4)		75 (54.7)
Working		46 (33.6)		62 (45.3)
Father’s working status					0.310
Jobless or retired		3 (2.3)		1 (0.8)
Government		17 (13)		29 (21.8)
Private		69 (52.7)		62 (46.6)
Self-employed		42 (32)		41 (30.8)
Household poverty status (income per capita)					<0.001
Poor (≤RM198)		37 (27)		18 (13.1)
Low income (RM198 < x ≤ RM357)		40 (29.2)		27 (19.7)
Non-poor (>RM357)		60 (43.8)		92 (67.2)
Household size					0.710
5 persons and below		82 (59.9)		85 (62)
6 person and above		55 (40.1)		52 (38)
Number of children					0.013
3 persons and below		93 (67.9)		111 (81)
4 persons and above		44 (32.1)		26 (19)
Type of toilet
Flush toilet		61(44.5)		73 (53.3)	0.150
Pour/pit		76 (55.5)		64 (46.7)
Sources of drinking water					0.420
Pipe water inside house		123 (89.8)		125 (91.2)

Note. case = moderate to severe malnourished preschool children with z-scores < −2SD from the median of WHO reference based on visits to health clinics of Terengganu, Malaysia between April- August 2012; control = child without malnutrition with z-scores between -2SD and +2SD, age matched and selected from the same health clinic as case; sd = standard deviation; n = total number; primary education and less = attained less than 6 years of school; secondary education = attained 11 years of education; tertiary education = obtained certificate, diploma, first degree and higher degree qualifications at academic and professional fields; poor = income per capita ≤ RM198; low income = RM198 < income per capita ≤ RM357; non-poor = income per capita > RM357; significance level is p < 0.05.

ISSN: 1471-2458