Evaluation of alternative school feeding models on nutrition, education, agriculture and other social outcomes in Ghana: rationale, randomised design and baseline data

Gelli, Aulo; Masset, Edoardo; Folson, Gloria; Kusi, Anthoni; Arhinful, Daniel K.; Asante, Felix; Ayi, Irene; Bosompem, Kwabena M.; Watkins, Kristie; Abdul-Rahman, Lutuf; Agble, Rosanna; Ananse-Baden, Getrude; Mumuni, Daniel; Aurino, Elisabetta; Fernandes, Meena; Drake, Lesley

doi:10.1186/s13063-015-1116-0

Trials

Table 6 Key baseline characteristics of participants for all individuals and households by study group, Ghana baseline survey

From: Evaluation of alternative school feeding models on nutrition, education, agriculture and other social outcomes in Ghana: rationale, randomised design and baseline data

			Control (C)		School feeding (SF)
					Ghana SF Programme (GSFP)		‘Home-grown’ school feeding (HGSF)				Main evaluation comparisons*
	All				Ghana SF Programme (GSFP)		HGSF+		HGSF++		Ha: [A − B] ! = 0, Pr(\|T\| > \|t\|)
Characteristic	n	Estimate	n	Estimate	n	Estimate	n	Estimate	n	Estimate	[SF − C]	[GSFP − HGSF]	[HGSF+ − HGSF++]
Outcomes
Absentee days over last 7 days	6217	0.130 [0.678]	2754	0.121 [0.672]	1765	0.117 [0.613]	855	0.186 [0.790]	843	0.130 [0.685]	0.327	0.0745	0.1227
Age started school (aged 5–15 years)	3907	7.18 [1.95]	1734	7.16 [1.92]	1105	7.36 [1.88]	560	7.18 [2.05]	508	6.86 [2.07]	0.5276	0.0001	0.0123
Number of times repeated a class	6067	0.23 [0.62]	2677	0.21 [0.57]	1726	0.25 [0.62]	825	0.26 [0.67]	839	0.22 [0.72]	0.0356	0.7323	0.2238
Maths test score	5826	2.51 [2.79]	2588	2.31 [2.70]	1646	2.54 [2.75]	801	2.91 [3.04]	791	2.74 [2.87]	<0.001	0.004	0.2756
Literacy test score	5849	3.06 [3.69]	2596	2.75 [3.50]	1661	3.05 [3.56]	804	3.58 [4.07]	788	3.57 [4.06]	<0.001	<0.001	0.9423
Raven’s test score	5830	4.46 [2.74]	2590	4.32 [2.75]	1650	4.52 [2.69]	800	4.84 [2.70]	790	4.41 [2.81]	<0.001	0.2448	0.002
Digit span score	5883	4.78 [2.40]	2615	4.56 [2.40]	1664	4.89 [2.37]	809	5.13 [2.39]	795	4.89 [2.39]	<0.001	0.152	0.0487
Height-for-age (5–15 years) z-score	5232	−0.925 [1.35]	2303	−0.943 [1.43]	1494	−0.963 [1.29]	730	−0.888 [1.24]	705	−0.827 [1.31]	0.3999	0.0268	0.3666
BMI-for-age (5–15 years) z-score	5232	−0.592 [0.924]	2303	−0.575 [0.964]	1494	0.636 [0.895]	730	−0.574 [0.857]	705	−0.570 [0.912]	0.2542	0.051	0.9284
Haemoglobin levels (g/dL)	714	11.3 [1.34]	422	11.3 [1.35]	169	11.3 [1.36]	32	11.4 [1.47]	91	11.3 [1.21]	0.9088	0.8764	0.8469
Total maize production volumes (kg)	2626	787 [1751]	1163	864 [2034]	722	807 [1596]	375	590 [1248]	366	702 [1478]	0.0439	0.0376	0.2646
Total rice production volumes (kg)	2626	141 [652]	1163	149 [700]	722	148 [645]	375	137 [678]	366	111 [449]	0.6003	0.4551	0.5297
Total maize sale volumes (kg)	2626	393 [1196]	1163	432 [1261]	722	446 [1337]	375	270 [880]	366	292 [907]	0.1381	0.0057	0.7435
Total rice sale volumes (kg)	2626	84 [484]	1163	94 [583]	722	87 [413]	375	70 [397]	366	61 [327]	0.3509	0.2895	0.7286
Other variables
Age (for 15 years and younger)	8407	7.5 [4.2]	3153	5.8 [9.0]	1918	6.2 [9.5]	942	6.2 [9.3]	917	6.1 [9.9]	0.057	0.847	0.8071
Is a girl? (for 15 years and younger)	8407	0.48 [0.5]	3799	0.48 [0.50]	2318	0.49 [0.50]	1167	0.47 [0.50]	1123	0.51 [0.5]	0.4933	0.9377	0.0989
Birth order (for all children)	8533	2.9 [2.0]	3791	2.9 [2.1]	2397	3.0 [2.0]	1189	3.0 [2.0]	1156	2.9 [1.9]	0.8275	0.021	0.2204
Is enrolled in school? (for 5–15 years)	6178	0.92 [0.27]	2755	0.91 [0.29]	1737	0.92 [0.26]	852	0.94 [0.01]	834	0.91 [0.29]	0.0375	0.9395	0.0065
Receives free school meals?	6280	0.19 [0.39]	2809	0.17 [0.38]	1768	0.23 [0.42]	860	0.13 [0.34]	843	0.24 [0.43]	0.0001	0.0055	<0.001
Distance to nearest school	6343	0.47 [3.24]	2765	0.45 [3.14]	1808	0.58 [4.34]	891	0.21 [0.85]	879	0.59 [2.29]	0.597	0.0992	<0.001
Time to school	6333	21.4 [45.6]	2778	19.6 [31.3]	1796	18.8 [32.5]	888	17.6 [22.7]	871	35.9 [95.1]	0.007	<0.001	<0.001
Total education expenditure	5635	23923 [35642]	2410	19250 [30878]	1640	27089 [37899]	789	25732 [37096]	796	29752 [40791]	<0.001	0.6249	0.0403
Mother’s education level (5–15 years)	5096	5.9 [9.4]	2290	5.7 [9.1]	1437	6.1 [9.6]	690	6.1 [9.4]	679	6.0 [9.8]	0.1946	0.8518	0.7608
Education level of head of household	2626	1.4 [2.6]	1163	1.4 [2.7]	1463	1.3 [2.5]	375	1.6 [2.7]	366	1.3 [2.2]	0.9393	0.2147	0.1344
Household size	2626	5.7 [2.4]	1163	5.7 [2.4]	722	5.8 [2.4]	375	5.7 [2.3]	366	5.6 [2.3]	0.8747	0.1774	0.5572
Per-capita expenditure quintile	2625	3.1 [1.4]	1162	3.2 [1.4]	722	2.9 [1.4]	375	3.3 [1.4]	366	3.1 [1.4]	0.1763	0.0008	0.2199
Household expenditure on food	2626	3473 [2187]	1163	3483 [2213]	722	3370 [2254]	375	3502 [1846]	366	3608 [2289]	0.815	0.1041	0.4874
Household expenditure on health	2626	93.5 [112]	1163	97.7 [116]	722	88.7 [107]	375	93.3 [108]	366	90.0 [112]	0.0894	0.595	0.6768
Household expenditure on education	2626	214 [333]	1163	204 [328]	722	195 [311]	375	233 [340]	366	260 [374]	0.1926	0.0034	0.3013
Household expenditure on transport	2626	317 [415]	1163	315 [407]	722	297 [393]	375	352 [447]	366	326 [447]	0.8157	0.0607	0.4316
% share of HH expenditure spent on food	2626	59.8 [15.8]	1163	59.6 [16.4]	722	60.3 [15.4]	375	58.0 [14.0]	366	61.1 [16.0]	0.5613	0.3073	0.0049

Estimates are expressed as mean and standard deviation
BMI body mass index, HH household. * T-test statistics for comparisons across treatment arms

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