The role of dietary diversity in the response to treatment of uncomplicated severe acute malnutrition among children in Niger: a prospective study

Table 2 Mean consumption of food groups and DD by season for children with SAM

		Lean season (May–August) N = 959		Non-lean season (September–April) N = 1418
Food group	Foods Included	N (%) Ever in last 7 days	Mean (SD) days in last 7 days	N (%) Ever in last 7 days	Mean (SD) days in last 7 days
Cereal, roots &tubers	Millet, rice, sorghum, maize, cassava	949(99.0)^*	6.7(±1.0)	1415(99.8)	6.7(±0.9)
Legumes	Cowpea, pea, lentils, peanuts, other nuts	563(58.7)^**	3.4(± 2.0)^*	1019(71.9)	3.7(±2.0)
Dairy	Milk, yogurt, cheese, other dairy products	286(29.8)	3.7(±2.2)	373(26.3)	3.8(2.3)
Flesh foods	Meat, poultry, fish	427(44.5)^**	2.5(±1.6)	772(54.4)	2.6(±1.7)
Eggs	Eggs	203(21.2)	2.4(±1.6)	269(19.0)	2.1(±1.4)
Vitamin A rich fruits & vegetables	Pumpkin, carrots, sweet potato, dark green leaves, mango or papaya ripe	897(93.5)^*	6.3(±2.6)	1356(95.6)	6.2(±2.3)
Other fruits &vegetables	Other vegetables (tomato, onion, cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, okra), other fruits (banana, guava, wate0rmelon)	449(46.8)^**	4.1(±2.3)^*	792(55.9)	4.4(±2.2)
Fats &oils	Oil, butterfat, coconut milk, butter	600(62.6)^**	4.4(±2.2)	1058(74.6)	4.3(±2.1)
Dietary diversity score	Sum of 8 food groups		2.7 (1.1)^*		2.9 (1.0)

^*Significant at 0.05 level; ^**significant at< 0.001
Counts and means evaluated for significant difference between groups using chi-square and t-test, respectively. Consumption of food groups is calculated among children reported to consume the food group

ISSN: 2055-0928