Table 2.
Sociodemographic and behavioural characteristics of young, pregnant and mid-age women participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (n 18 226)
| Young | Pregnant | Mid-age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (n 5760) | (n 1999) | (n 10 467) | |
| Age (years) | |||
| Mean | 34 | 34 | 53 |
| sd | 1·5 | 1·4 | 1·5 |
| Education (%) | |||
| No formal qualifications | 0·8 | 0·4 | 16·8 |
| School or higher school certificate | 19·2 | 13·1 | 47·0 |
| Trade/diploma | 26·3 | 22·5 | 19·8 |
| University/higher degree | 53·7 | 64·0 | 16·4 |
| Occupation (%) | |||
| Manager or professional | 53·7 | 50·4 | 36·3 |
| Tradesperson or labourer or related worker | 30·2 | 17·0 | 39·1 |
| No paid job | 16·1 | 32·6 | 24·6 |
| Marital status (%) | |||
| Married or de facto | 69·7 | 97·4 | 80·2 |
| Separated/divorced/widowed | 6·6 | 1·2 | 16·1 |
| Single or never married | 23·7 | 1·4 | 3·7 |
| Area of residence (%) | |||
| Urban | 71·2 | 72·3 | 70·0 |
| Rural/remote | 28·8 | 27·7 | 30·0 |
| BMI category* (%) | |||
| <25 kg/m2 | 56·3 | 58·9 | 45·7 |
| 25–30 kg/m2 | 24·1 | 25·8 | 31·9 |
| >30 kg/m2 | 19·6 | 15·3 | 22·4 |
| Smoking (%) | |||
| Never smoker | 59·5 | 63·8 | 61·3 |
| Ex-smoker | 23·7 | 30·2 | 24·6 |
| Current smoker | 16·8 | 6·0 | 14·1 |
| Physical activity (%) | |||
| Nil/sedentary | 11·8 | 16·3 | 17·4 |
| Low | 36·4 | 47·6 | 37·2 |
| Moderate | 22·5 | 21·9 | 20·0 |
| High | 29·4 | 14·2 | 24·4 |
*Pre-pregnancy BMI for pregnant women.