Table 1.
Overview of the dietary behaviour measures and family and school environmental variables
| Behaviour measures | Item (child questionnaire) | Response category |
|---|---|---|
| Breakfast consumption | ‘How often do you eat breakfast during the week?’ | Answers from 0 to 5 d |
| ‘How often do you eat breakfast during the weekend?’ | Answers from 0 to 2 d | |
| Summing up both items to assess total frequency per week | ||
| Soft drink consumption | ‘How many days per week do you usually drink cola or other sugar-sweetened beverages?’ | 7-point scale (1 = never; 2 = <1 d/week; 3 = 1 d/week; 4 = 2–4 d/week; 5 = 5–6 d/week; 6 = every day; 7 = every day, more than once daily) |
| Family environmental predictor | Item (child/parent questionnaire) | Response category |
| Sociocultural (general) | ||
| Good student according to parent? | ‘What do you think about the school results of your son/daughter in comparison to his/her classmates?’ (parent) | 4-point scale (1 = below average; 2 = average student; 3 = good student; 4 = very good student) |
| BMI parent | Height and weight (parent) | [Weight (kg)]/[height (m)]2 |
| Single-parent household | ‘Are you a single parent?’ (parent) | 0 = yes; 1 = no |
| Sociocultural (related to BC) | ||
| Breakfast together | ‘Do you or your partner have breakfast TOGETHER with your child?’ (parent) | 5-point scale (1 = (almost) never; 2 = less than half of week; 3 = approximately half of week; 4 = more than half of week; 5 = (almost) every day) |
| Physical (related to SDC) | ||
| Soft drink consumption availability | ‘Are soft drinks available at home?’ (parent) | 3-point scale (1 = seldom or never; 2 = sometimes; 3 = (almost) always) |
| Sociocultural (related to SDC) | ||
| Soft drink consumption parents | ‘How many days per week do you drink soft drinks?’ (parent) | 7-point scale (1 = never; 2 = <1 d/week or seldom; 3 = 1 d/week; 4 = 2–4 d/week; 5 = 5–6 d/week; 6 = every day; 7 = every day, more than once daily) |
| Political (related to SDC) | ||
| Soft drink consumption parenting 1 | ‘I don't drink soft drinks because of my child's presence’ (parent) | 5-point scale (1 = never; 2 = almost never; 3 = sometimes; 4 = almost always; 5 = always) |
| Soft drink consumption parenting 2 | ‘I give my child soft drinks whenever he/she asks for it’ (parent) | 5-point scale (1 = always; 2 = almost always; 3 = sometimes; 4 = almost never; 5 = never) |
| Soft drink consumption parenting 3 | ‘My child can drink soft drinks whenever he/she wants’ (parent) | 5-point scale (1 = always; 2 = almost always; 3 = sometimes; 4 = almost never; 5 = never) |
| Sociocultural (related to PA) | ||
| Physical activity cycling together | ‘How many hours and minutes per week do you cycle TOGETHER with your child?’ (parent) | … hours, … minutes |
| Physical activity walking together | ‘How many hours and minutes per week do you walk TOGETHER with your child?’ (parent) | … hours, … minutes |
| Physical activity together in car | ‘How many hours and minutes per week do you sit in the car TOGETHER with your child?’ (parent) | … hours, … minutes |
| Physical activity attitude | ‘What do you think of exercise and physical activity for your child?’ (parent) | Summing up three items on a 3-point scale |
| • Importance | 1 = unimportant; 2 = important; 3 = very important | |
| • Safety | 1 = dangerous; 2 = safe; 3 = very safe | |
| • Health | 1 = unhealthy; 2 = healthy; 3 = very healthy | |
| Physical activity modelling | ‘In an average week, how often do you do following activities?’ (parent) | Summing up minutes spent in three activities |
| • Cycling | … hours, … minutes | |
| • Walking | … hours, … minutes | |
| • Exercise | … hours, … minutes | |
| Physical activity together | ‘How often do you exercise TOGETHER with your child?’ (parent) | 4-point scale (1 = never; 2 = sometimes; 3 = often; 4 = always) |
| Physical activity logistic support | ‘How often do you bring your child to the place where he/she exercises?’ (parent) | 4-point scale (1 = never; 2 = sometimes; 3 = often; 4 = always) |
| Physical activity encouragement | ‘How often do you watch or encourage your child while he/she exercises?’ (parent) | 4-point scale (1 = never; 2 = sometimes; 3 = often; 4 = always) |
| Physical activity benefits | ‘How important do you find following aspects of exercise?’ (parent) | 5-point scale (1 = very unimportant; 2 = unimportant; 3 = don't know; |
| Physical activity fitness benefit | • Improving fitness and health | 4 = important; 5 = very important) |
| Physical activity competition benefit | • Able to play competition and show that he/she is better than others | |
| Physical activity social benefit | • Being together with friends and making new friends | |
| Physical activity relaxing benefit | • Relaxing after a difficult school day | |
| Physical activity fun benefit | • Having fun | |
| Physical activity barriers | ‘What hinders your child to be physically active?’ (parent) | Mean value of ten items on a 5-point scale (1 = certainly not; 2 = not; 3 = don't know; 4 = yes; 5 = certainly yes) |
| • Lack of time | ||
| • Lack of perseverance | ||
| • Lack of interest | ||
| • Weak health, injuries | ||
| • Personal problems of your child (anxiety, etc.) | ||
| • Not sporty | ||
| • Too expensive (membership, clothing, equipment) | ||
| • Lack of sport infrastructure | ||
| • Too large distance to sports facility | ||
| • Lack of transportation | ||
| School environmental predictor | Item (child questionnaire) | Response category |
| Sociocultural (general) | ||
| Relation with classmates | ‘To what extent do you agree with following statements?’ | Mean value of three items on a 5-point scale (1 = totally not agree; 2 = not agree; 3 = no opinion; 4 = agree; 5 = totally agree) |
| • My classmates like being together | ||
| • Most classmates are friendly and helpful | ||
| • My classmates accept me as I am | ||
| Schoolwork stress | ‘How pressured are you by the schoolwork you have to do?’ (child) | 4-point scale (1 = not at all; 4 = very much) |
| Good student according to teacher? | ‘What does your teacher think about your school results in comparison to your classmates?’ (child) | 4-point scale (1 = below; 2 = average student; 3 = good student; 4 = very good student) |
| Political (general) | ||
| Homework | ‘How many hours per day do you usually spend on making homework and learning lessons, outside of school hours?’ (child) | Hours per week + per weekend |
| Physical (related to PA) | ||
| Activity in playtime | ‘What do you usually do during recess and lunch break?’ (child) | 1 = sitting; 2 = standing; 3 = walking around; 4 = sports |
| Extra-curricular sports | ‘When can you do sports or play at school?’ (child) | Summing up the possibilities to do extra-curricular sports at school |
| • During recess and lunch break | ||
| • During study moments | ||
| • After or before school hours | ||
| • Wednesday afternoon | ||
| • Class or school tournaments | ||
| • Other moments | ||
| Participation extra-curricular sports | ‘Do you sometimes participate in these sports activities?’ (child) | 4-point scale (1 = never; 2 = seldom; 3 = sometimes; 4 = almost always) |
| Political (related to PA) | ||
| Hours PE | How many hours per week do you get PE lessons at school? (including swimming lessons) | 0–6 lessons/week |
BC, breakfast consumption; SDC, soft drink consumption; PA, physical activity; PE, physical education.