Table 1.
Descriptive characteristics of the European children from the IDEFICS study*
| Boys (n 3618) | Girls (n 3540) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean or n | se or % | Mean or n | se or % | P value† | |
| Age (years), mean and se | 6·17 | 0·03 | 6·25 | 0·03 | 0·023 |
| Age category, n and % | |||||
| 2–5 years | 1111 | 30·7 | 1033 | 29·2 | 0·083 |
| 6–9 years | 2507 | 69·3 | 2507 | 70·8 | |
| Socio-economic status, n and % | |||||
| Low | 305 | 8·4 | 272 | 7·7 | 0·472 |
| Medium | 1349 | 37·3 | 1315 | 37·1 | |
| High | 1964 | 54·3 | 1953 | 55·2 | |
| BMI (kg/m2), mean and se | 16·56 | 0·04 | 16·47 | 0·04 | 0·111 |
| BMI category‡, n and % | |||||
| Normal weight | 2943 | 81·3 | 2799 | 79·1 | 0·008 |
| Overweight or obese | 675 | 18·7 | 741 | 21·9 | |
| Mean | 95 % CI | Mean | 95 % CI | ||
| Food group consumption (times/d) | |||||
| Vegetables | 1·17 | 1·14, 1·21 | 1·22 | 1·18, 1·25 | 0·042 |
| Fruits | 1·41 | 1·36, 1·46 | 1·41 | 1·36, 1·46 | 0·449 |
| Fruit juices | 1·19 | 1·13, 1·24 | 1·14 | 1·08, 1·19 | 0·031 |
| Nuts | 0·13 | 0·12, 0·014 | 0·14 | 0·13, 0·15 | 0·063 |
| Legumes | 0·16 | 0·14, 0·19 | 0·15 | 0·13, 0·16 | 0·272 |
| Soya products | 0·02 | 0·01, 0·03 | 0·01 | 0·01, 0·02 | 0·062 |
| Potatoes | 0·15 | 0·14, 0·16 | 0·13 | 0·13, 0·14 | 0·006 |
| Bread | 1·57 | 1·53, 1·62 | 1·56 | 1·51, 1·60 | 0·276 |
| Pasta | 0·49 | 0·47, 0·51 | 0·48 | 0·46, 0·50 | 0·514 |
| Cereals | 0·61 | 0·59, 0·64 | 0·56 | 0·53, 0·58 | 0·000 |
| Milk | 1·66 | 1·61, 1·71 | 1·61 | 1·56, 1·67 | 0·157 |
| Yoghurt | 0·76 | 0·73, 0·78 | 0·73 | 0·70, 0·76 | 0·006 |
| Cheese | 0·82 | 0·77, 0·87 | 0·85 | 0·77, 0·93 | 0·960 |
| Butter | 0·86 | 0·83, 0·90 | 0·89 | 0·86, 0·93 | 0·436 |
| Meat | 1·26 | 1·22, 1·30 | 1·18 | 1·14, 1·21 | 0·000 |
| Fish | 0·30 | 0·29, 0·32 | 0·28 | 0·27, 0·29 | 0·067 |
| Eggs | 0·34 | 0·33, 0·36 | 0·35 | 0·34, 0·37 | 0·571 |
| Savoury pastries | 0·11 | 0·10, 0·12 | 0·10 | 0·09, 0·11 | 0·200 |
| Biscuits | 0·34 | 0·32, 0·35 | 0·30 | 0·29, 0·32 | 0·003 |
| Chocolate | 0·55 | 0·53, 0·57 | 0·53 | 0·51, 0·55 | 0·358 |
| Candies | 0·29 | 0·27, 0·30 | 0·28 | 0·26, 0·29 | 0·978 |
| Ice cream | 0·24 | 0·23, 0·26 | 0·24 | 0·23, 0·26 | 0·520 |
| Jam and honey | 1·59 | 1·48, 1·71 | 1·47 | 1·37, 1·58 | 0·688 |
| Fast foods | 0·34 | 0·33, 0·36 | 0·34 | 0·32, 0·36 | 0·123 |
| Savoury snacks | 0·15 | 0·14, 0·16 | 0·13 | 0·12, 0·14 | 0·003 |
| Ketchup | 0·24 | 0·23, 0·25 | 0·21 | 0·20, 0·22 | 0·001 |
| Water | 4·50 | 4·40, 4·59 | 4·54 | 4·44, 4·63 | 0·423 |
| SSB | 0·56 | 0·51, 0·60 | 0·52 | 0·47, 0·57 | 0·074 |
| Mean | sd | Mean | sd | ||
| PA (min/d) | |||||
| Sedentary time | 348·83 | 95·22 | 358·97 | 91·85 | 0·000 |
| Light PA | 303·58 | 67·18 | 297·39 | 70·45 | 0·000 |
| Moderate PA | 41·99 | 16·37 | 34·17 | 13·63 | 0·000 |
| Vigorous PA | 13·73 | 9·33 | 11·76 | 8·03 | 0·000 |
| Moderate-to-vigorous PA | 55·73 | 23·92 | 45·94 | 20·08 | 0·000 |
IDEFICS, Identification and prevention of Dietary and lifestyle induced health EFfects In Children and infantS; SSB, sugar-sweetened beverages; PA, physical activity.
*
The IDEFICS study was carried out between September 2007 and June 2008 in eight European countries (Sweden, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Cyprus, Spain, Belgium and Estonia).
†
Gender differences using Pearson’s χ 2 test for categorical variables and the t test for continuous variables. Results presented in bold font are statistically significant.