Table 2.

Differences in mean food fussiness score across sociodemographic characteristics for the total sample and by child age in the nationally representative sample of Irish children aged 5–12 years (n 594), National Children’s Food Survey (2003–2004)

	Food fussiness score
	Total sample (n 594)			5–8-year-olds (n 296)			9–12-year-olds (n 298)
	Mean	sd	P value	Mean	sd	P value	Mean	sd	P value
Child’s age	–	–	–	3·06*	0·89		2·89	0·97
Child characteristics
Gender
Male	3·08	0·92	0·008	3·18	0·87	0·027	2·98	0·97	0·121
Female	2·87	0·94		2·94	0·91		2·81	0·96
Duration of breast-feeding
Never	3·04	0·92	0·004	3·12	0·88	0·040	2·93	0·96	0·091
Breast-fed for 1–24 weeks	3·02	0·98		3·09	0·94		2·99	1·03
Breast-fed for >24 weeks	2·66	0·80		2·73	0·83		2·61	0·77
BMI†
Normal weight	3·01	0·95	0·333	3·08	0·92	0·942	2·95	0·97	0·169
Overweight	2·86	0·89		3·05	0·77		2·67	0·97
Obese	2·94	0·91		3·00	0·95		2·88	0·89
Maternal characteristics
Age (years)
<35	2·95	0·92	0·816	2·99	0·90	0·647	2·81	1·01	0·940
35–45	2·99	0·93		3·12	0·89		2·88	0·97
>45	2·95	0·95		3·07	0·89		2·89	0·98
BMI‡
Normal weight	3·01	0·99	0·493	3·06	0·99	0·249	2·96	0·99	0·168
Overweight	2·92	0·86		3·15	0·82		2·72	0·90
Obese	2·89	0·91		2·85	0·76		2·93	1·04
Marital status
Married	2·98	0·92	0·610	3·07	0·88	0·597	2·90	0·96	0·824
Not married	2·91	1·05		2·97	1·07		2·86	1·06
Social class
Professional/managerial	2·87	0·92	0·003	2·93	0·88	0·020	2·83	0·96	0·250
Non-manual skilled	2·97	0·88		3·09	0·87		2·86	0·88
Skilled manual	3·07	0·98		3·13	0·84		3·00	1·14
Semi-skilled & unskilled	3·33	0·93		3·42	0·96		3·21	0·89

^*Mean food fussiness score was significantly different between 5–8-year-olds and 9–12-year-olds: P<0·05.

^†International Obesity Task Force age- and sex-specific BMI cut-offs for defining weight status in children aged 2–18 years.

^‡Weight status determined using WHO standards: normal weight, BMI<25·0 kg/m²; overweight, BMI=25·0–29·9 kg/m²; obese, BMI≥30·0 kg/m².