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Table 1 Child and maternal characteristics, Malawi 2015–2016

From: Maternal determinants of optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding and their association with child undernutrition in Malawi (2015–2016)

Variables

Percentage (%)a

Child characteristics

Nutritional status

 Stunted (n = 2222)

30.8

 Wasted (n = 2221)

3.7

 Underweight (n = 2224)

9.9

Anemic (n = 1670)

80.0

 Severe (Hb < 7.0 g/dL)

3.7

 Moderate (Hb 7.0–9.9 g/dL)

49.5

 Mild (Hb 10.0–11.0 g/dL)

26.8

Morbidity (n = 2281)

 Diarrhea

31.1

 Fever

34.5

 Cough

27.3

Maternal characteristics

Maternal education (n = 2281)

 No education

11.2

 Some primary

65.9

 Secondary or higher

22.9

Maternal literacy (n = 2281)

 Cannot read

30.8

 Able to read parts of sentence

9.8

 Able to read whole sentence

59.4

Maternal occupation (n = 2281)

 Not working outside the home

36.9

 Working outside the home

63.1

Marital status (n = 2281)

 Unmarried

21.3

 Married

78.7

Ethnicity (n = 2222)

 Chewa

34.6

 Tumbuka

8.4

 Lomwe

18.0

 Yao

15.8

 Ngoni

11.7

 Other

11.5

Religion (n = 2279)

 Christian

83.8

 Muslim

15.6

 Other

0.6

Exposure to media (n = 2222)

 Television

 

 Not at all

82.9

 Rarely (Less than once a week)

9.2

 At least once a week

7.9

Maternal characteristics (continued) (n = 2281)

Radio

 Not at all

53.2

 Rarely (Less than once a week)

19.3

 At least once a week

27.5

Newspaper

 Not at all

83.9

 Rarely (Less than once a week)

10.4

 At least once a week

5.7

Wealth index

 Poorest

25.0

 Poorer

22.7

 Middle

19.9

 Richer

15.8

 Richest

16.6

Area of residence

 Urban

14.8

 Rural

85.2

Region of residence

 Northern

11.2

 Central

42.0

 Southern

46.8

  1. aWeighted frequencies