Gender and dietary diversity among children aged 6-24months – evidence from a nationally representative survey

Table 1 Distribution of socio-demographic characteristics of household, mothers and their children aged 6–23 months

Socio-demographic characteristics	n	%
Mother’s education
No education	12,034	19.22
Primary	7,318	11.69
Secondary	33,524	53.54
Higher secondary & above	9,734	15.55
Mother’s currently working status
No	7,939	12.7
Yes	1,589	2.5
Missing cases	53,082	84.8
Mother’s age at first birth
< 18 years	11,545	18.4
> 18 years	51,065	81.6
Mother’s age at first marriage
< 18 years	26,690	42.6
> 18 years	35,819	57.2
Missing cases	101	0.2
Mother’s BMI
Underweight	13,522	21.6
Normal BMI	38,007	60.7
Overweight & obese	9,498	15.2
Missing cases	1,583	2.5
Religion
Hindu	46,323	74.0
Muslim	8,891	14.2
Others	7,396	11.8
Caste
SCs	12,778	20.4
STs	12,534	20.0
OBC	24,005	38.3
Others	10,006	16.0
Missing cases	3,287	5.2
Number of living children in HH
1–2 children	46,717	74.6
3–4 children	13,122	21.0
5 & above children	2,771	4.4
Wealth status
Poor	30,800	49.2
Middle	12,384	19.8
Rich	19,426	31.0
Type of place of residence
Urban	12,733	20.3
Rural	49,877	79.7
Region
North	11,113	17.7
Central	15,872	25.4
East	12,495	20.0
Northeast	9,098	14.5
West	5,737	9.2
South	8,295	13.2
Sex of household head
Male	53,073	84.8
Female	9,537	15.2
Child’s sex
Male	32,521	51.9
Female	30,089	48.1
Child’s age
6–11 months	21,490	34.3
12–18 months	25,473	40.7
19–23 months	15,647	25.0
Child’s birth order
First	24,173	38.6
Second	21,095	33.7
Three and above	17,342	27.7
Child’s birth weight
Underweight	9,881	15.8
Normal	39,431	63.0
Overweight	8,332	13.3
Missing cases	4,966	7.9
Child’s currently breastfeeding
No	8,778	14.0
Yes	53,832	86.0
Total (N)	62,610	100.0

Note: SCs-Scheduled Castes; STs -Scheduled Tribes; BMI- Body Mass Index; HH-Household

ISSN: 2072-1315