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Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of mothers and children

From: Association of maternal characteristics with child feeding indicators and nutritional status of children under-two years in Rural Ghana

Variable

Frequency

Percentage (%)

 

N = 935

 

Children’s characteristics

Age (months), Mean (SD)

9 (5.7)

 

  < 6

262

28.0

  6 – 8

187

20.0

  9 – 11

157

16.8

  12 – 24

329

35.2

 Sex

  Male

466

49.8

  Female

469

50.2

Mothers’ characteristics

Maternal age (years), Mean (SD)

28 (6.7)

 

  < 20 years

74

7.9

  20–30 years

570

61.0

  31 -40 years

243

26.0

   > 40 years

48

5.1

 Marital status

  Single (Never Married)

98

10.5

  Cohabiting

83

8.8

  Married

703

75.2

  Separated/ Divorced

41

4.4

  Widowed

10

1.1

 Number of Living Children (Parity)

  1–3

614

65.6

  4–6

282

30.2

   > 6

39

4.2

 Number of mothers with children under two years of age (distributed by number of children cared for)

  1

811

86.8

  2

118

12.6

  3

6

0.6

 Employment status

  Not employed in the last 12 months before the survey

282

30.2

  Not currently employed, but worked in past 12 months

320

34.2

  Currently employed

333

35.6

 Work status/schedule throughout the year

  Work throughout the year

322

34.4

  Work seasonally/part of the year

313

33.5

  Work only once in a while

300

32.1

 Form of remuneration/payment

  Cash only

372

39.8

  Cash and in Kind

302

32.3

  In Kind only

94

10.0

  Not paid

167

17.9

 Mother’s highest level of education attained

  None

166

17.8

  Primary

291

31.1

  JHS/JSS

317

33.9

  Secondary

92

9.8

  Tertiary

69

7.4

 Decision making power

  low

320

34.2

  medium/average

479

51.2

  high

136

14.6

 Financial independence

  low

491

52.5

  medium/average

352

37.7

  high

92

9.8

  1. SD Standard deviation