Table 2 Socio-demographic and economic characteristics of households in high and low hotspot districts of Amhara Region, northwest Ethiopia, February–March 2015

Place of residence

 Urban

239

19.1

177

14.3

10.32

0.001

 Rural

1015

80.9

1064

85.7

Relation of the mothers/care giver to the child

 Mother

1234

98.4

1210

97.5

2.54

0.111

 Care giver

20

1.6

31

2.5

Mothers/care givers age (years)

 20–29

175

15.2

170

14.4

8.03

0.045

 30–39

589

51.1

576

48.8

 40–49

332

28.8

345

29.2

 ≥50

56

4.9

90

7.6

Mothers’ education

 Unable to read and write

771

61.5

891

71.8

51.584

<0.001

 Able to read and write

77

6.1

95

7.7

 Primary

182

14.5

141

11.4

 Secondary

130

10.4

64

5.1

 Higher

94

7.5

50

4.0

Occupation of mothers

 Not working

253

20.2

132

10.6

78.8578

<0.001

 Daily laborer

68

5.4

51

4.1

 Farmer

808

64.4

982

79.1

 Employee

71

5.7

60

4.8

 Merchant

54

4.3

16

1.3

Marital status of the mother

 Married

1100

87.7

1159

93.4

29.3206

<0.001

 Single

13

1.0

3

0.2

 Widowed

21

1.7

21

1.8

 Separated

39

3.1

19

1.5

 Divorced

81

6.5

39

3.1

Religion

 Orthodox Christian

1242

99.0

1220

98.7

2.58

0.108

 Others

12

1.0

21

1.7

Parents’ education

 Unable to read and write

380

30.3

468

37.7

62.69

<0.001

 Able to read and write

258

20.6

248

28.0

 Primary

263

21.0

211

17.0

 Secondary

126

10.1

72

5.8

 Higher

125

10.0

82

6.6

Occupation of parents

 Daily laborer

78

6.2

33

2.7

67.305

<0.001

 Farmer

792

63.2

960

77.4

 Employee

202

16.1

149

12.0

 Merchant

80

6.4

39

3.1

Child sex

 Male

622

49.6

696

56.1

10.5181

0.001

 Female

632

50.4

545

43.9

Child’s age (months)

 0–5

139

11.1

129

10.4

11.026

0.051

 6–11

108

8.6

86

6.9

 12–23

263

21.0

236

19.0

 24–35

250

19.9

293

23.6

 36–47

287

22.9

260

21.0

 48–59

207

16.5

237

19.1

Number of under five children

 One child

1114

88.8

1107

89.2

3.979

0.137

 Two children

139

11.1

128

10.3

 Three children

1

0.1

6

0.5

Family size

 ≤5

854

68.1

757

61.0

13.76

<0.001

 >5

400

31.9

484

39.0

Wealth index

 Poor

438

34.9

313

25.2

50.48

<0.001

 Medium

416

33.2

578

46.6

 Rich

400

31.9

350

28.2