Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of respondents and differences between the experimental and control groups at pre-intervention: high-school students aged 12 to 17 years, central Canada, September 2009
| Experimental (n 178) | Control (n 159) | Differences between groups | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable | n | % | n | % | χ 2, P value |
| Sex | 12·51, P = 0·0004 | ||||
| Girls | 106 | 59·55 | 64 | 40·25 | |
| Boys | 72 | 40·45 | 95 | 59·75 | |
| School level | 7·71, P = 0·10 | ||||
| Secondary 1 | 36 | 20·22 | 26 | 16·35 | |
| Secondary 2 | 38 | 21·35 | 20 | 12·58 | |
| Secondary 3 | 30 | 16·85 | 27 | 16·98 | |
| Secondary 4 | 38 | 21·35 | 49 | 30·82 | |
| Secondary 5 | 36 | 20·22 | 37 | 23·27 | |
| School programme | 3·73, P = 0·053 | ||||
| Regular | 72 | 40·45 | 81 | 50·94 | |
| Other* | 106 | 59·55 | 78 | 49·06 | |
| Mean | sd | Mean | sd | t, P value | |
| Age (years) | 13·99 | 1·50 | 14·47 | 1·47 | 2·95, P = 0·003 |
| Behaviour | |||||
| Stayed in school (no. of days/10) | 9·57 | 0·98 | 9·19 | 1·49 | −2·76, P = 0·006 |
| Ate lunch prepared at home (no. of days/10) | 8·55 | 2·57 | 7·98 | 3·01 | −1·85, P = 0·066 |
| Purchased lunch in school (no. of days/10) | 0·57 | 1·20 | 0·88 | 2·11 | 1·64, P = 0·10 |
| Went to fast-food restaurant (no. of days/10) | 0·39 | 0·92 | 0·64 | 1·14 | 2·25, P = 0·025 |
| Intention | 4·34 | 0·85 | 3·87 | 1·14 | −4·27, P < 0·0001 |
| Attitude | 3·77 | 0·65 | 3·47 | 0·73 | −3·97, P < 0·0001 |
| Perceived behavioural control | 4·65 | 0·42 | 4·29 | 0·70 | −5·61, P < 0·0001 |
| Perceived social norms | 3·70 | 0·67 | 3·26 | 0·80 | −5·42, P < 0·0001 |
| Behavioural beliefs | 4·24 | 0·61 | 3·76 | 0·83 | −6·04, P < 0·0001 |
| Self-efficacy | 3·61 | 0·92 | 3·29 | 1·13 | −2·80, P = 0·005 |
| Facilitating factors | 3·90 | 0·80 | 3·75 | 0·82 | −1·76, P = 0·078 |
*Other programme: experimental = international education; control = information technology.