Table 6 Associations between child nutritional status and caregiver characteristics from the Africa RISING project in northern Ghana in 2012^#

Sex of household head

 Female

32 (27.8)

83 (72.2)

0.05

 Male

144 (38.2)

233 (61.8)

Age group of caregivers (years)

 15–19

4 (26.7)

11 (73.3)

0.50

 20–29

51 (36.7)

88 (63.3)

 30–39

73 (39.0)

114 (61.0)

 40–49

22 (28.2)

56 (71.8)

 ≥50

26 (35.6)

47 (64.4)

Household size

 ≤5

34 (26.8)

93 (73.2)

0.01*

 6-10

71 (34.8)

133 (65.2)

 >10

71 (44.1)

90 (55.9)

Marital status

 Unmarried

18 (27.3)

48 (72.7)

0.13

 Married

158 (37.1)

268 (62.9)

Region

 Northern

101 (51.0)

97 (49.0)

<0.0001*

 Upper West

42 (28.8)

104 (71.2)

 Upper East

33 (22.3)

115 (77.7)

Educational level

 None

136 (38.2)

220 (61.8)

0.07

 Primary and above

40 (29.4)

96 (70.6)

Occupation

 Farming

110 (34.1)

213 (65.9)

0.28

 Trading

66 (39.1)

103 (60.9)

Income (GH¢)

 <100

119 (34.8)

223 (65.2)

0.78

 101–300

47 (38.5)

75 (61.5)

 301–500

7 (41.2)

10 (58.8)

 >500

3 (27.3)

8 (72.7)

Primary source of obtaining food

 Own production

117 (38.4)

188 (61.6)

0.28

 Purchases

6 (28.6)

15 (71.4)

 Own production + purchases

53 (31.9)

113 (68.1)

Feeding frequency

 Once

1 (16.7)

5 (83.3)

0.002*

 Twice

26 (22.8)

88 (77.2)

 Thrice

149 (40.1)

223 (59.9)

Body mass index (BMI)

 Underweight

23 (41.8)

32 (58.2)

0.43

 Normal

132 (35.9)

236 (64.1)

 Overweight/obese

21 (30.4)

48 (69.6)