Determinants of dietary diversity for women of reproductive age (WRA) and under-five children from small-holder farming households in Lesotho

Figures & data

Figure 1. Agro-ecological zones of Lesotho.

Table 1. Demographic characteristics

Characteristics	N	Percentage
Age of the respondent	18	7.6
<30	47	19.9
31–40	49	20.7
41–50	66	28
51–60	36	15.3
61–70	36	15.3
>70	20	8.5
Gender
Male	37	15.7
Female	199	84.3
Marital status
Married	158	66.9
Divorced/Separated	12	5.1
Widowed	44	18.6
Single/Never married	22	9.3
Highest education level
Never been to school	6	2.5
Primary level	77	32.6
Secondary level	70	29.7
High school level	43	18.2
Tertiary qualification	40	16.9
Employment status
Employed	24	10.2
Self-employed	126	53.4
Pensioner	21	8.9
Business entrepreneur	6	2.5
Unemployed	59	25
Receiving nutrition education in the last year
Yes	71	30.1
No	165	69.9
Farm land ownership
Owned	216	91.5
Rented	16	6.8
Communal	4	1.7
Being a beneficiary of an agricultural development program
Yes	49	20.8
No	187	79.2
Access to improved drinking water source
Improved	232	98.3
Unimproved	4	1.7
Owning a toilet
Yes	225	95.3
No	11	4.7
	N	Mean
Household size	236	4.46
Household monthly income	210	R4606.44
Household income per year	210	R61930
Monthly food expenditure	227	R1578.15
Child characteristics
Age of the child
6–11 months	7	9.3
12–23 months	11	14.7
24–35 months	17	22.7
36–47 months	14	18.7
48–49 months	26	34.7
Gender of the child
Male	45	60
Female	30	40
Is the child breastfeeding?
Yes	11	14.7
No	64	85.3

Figure 2. Women’s dietary diversity score.

Figure 3. Children’s dietary diversity scores.

Table 2. Determinants of women’s dietary diversity score

Source	Coef	Value	Standard error	t	Pr > |t|	Lower bound (95%)	Upper bound (95%)
Intercept	${\beta }_0$	3.152	0.364	8.664	<0.0001*	2.434	3.869
Age group of the woman	${\beta }_1$	0.075	0.037	2.015	0.045*	0.002	0.149
Total members of the household	${\beta }_2$	−0.120	0.052	−2.301	0.022*	−0.223	−0.017
Household monthly income	${\beta }_3$	0.0000843	0.000	4.523	<0.0001*	0.000	0.000
Gender of the household head - Female	${\beta }_4$	−0.465	0.295	−1.576	0.117	−1.047	0.117
Gender of the household head-Male		0.000	0.000
Are you a beneficiary of any agricultural development project?−1 (Yes)	${\beta }_5$	0.472	0.236	2.004	0.046*	0.007	0.937
Are you a beneficiary of any agricultural development project?−2 (No)		0.000	0.000

Notes: *Significance: 0.001***, 0.01 **, 0.05 *, 0.1 ``

Table 3. Determinants of child dietary diversity score

Source	Coef	Value	Standard error	t	Pr > |t|	Lower bound (95%)	Upper bound (95%)
Intercept	${\beta }_0$	0.758	0.558	1.359	0.179	−0.355	1.870
Caretaker’s highest education status	${\beta }_1$	0.377	0.116	3.240	0.002*	0.145	0.609
Gender of the caretaker – Male	${\beta }_2$	−1.342	0.540	−2.483	0.015*	−2.421	−0.264
Gender of the caretaker - Female		0.000	0.000
Marital status of the caretaker - Married	${\beta }_3$	1.142	0.395	2.891	0.005*	0.354	1.930
Marital status of the caretaker - Divorced or separated	${\beta }_4$	−0.578	0.815	−0.709	0.481	−2.204	1.048
Marital status of the caretaker-Widowed	${\beta }_4$	0.626	0.527	1.189	0.238	−0.424	1.677
Marital status of the caretaker- Single/never married	${\beta }_4$	0.000	0.000

Notes: *Significance: 0.001***, 0.01 **, 0.05 *, 0.1 ``