Table 1.
Descriptive characteristics of children participating in the DIATROFI program for the first time at baseline and their families, in total and across all schoolyears from 2012 to 2019 (18,716 children from distinct families).
| Total | 2012–2013 | 2013–2014 | 2014–2015 | 2015–2016 | 2016–2017 | 2017–2018 | 2018–2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Children’s and adolescents’ characteristics | ||||||||
| Total n. of students | 18,716 | 2752 (14.7%) | 10,653 (56.9%) | 1104 (5.9%) | 2437 (13.0%) | 534 (2.9%) | 518 (2.8%) | 718 (3.8%) |
| Child age (median years, IQR) | 9.0 (6.5, 12.0) | 9.5 (6.5, 9.5) | 9.5 (7.5, 9.5) | 6.0 (6.0, 6.0) | 8.0 (6.0, 8.0) | 7.5 (6.5, 7.5) | 12.0 (6.0, 12.0) | 8.0 (6.0, 8.0) |
| Child sex (boys: n, %) | 9058 (48.4%) | 1316 (47.8%) | 5044 (47.3%) | 537 (48.6%) | 1257 (51.6%) | 276 (51.7%) | 274 (52.9%) | 354 (49.3%) |
| School (n, %) | ||||||||
| Kindergarten | 1511 (8.1%) | 122 (4.5%) | 445 (4.2%) | 169 (15.4%) | 461 (19.3%) | 81 (15.2%) | 99 (19.7%) | 134 (18.8%) |
| Primary | 12,700 (68.4%) | 1938 (70.5%) | 7219 (68.2%) | 777 (70.6%) | 1675 (70.0%) | 409 (76.6%) | 156 (31.1%) | 526 (73.7%) |
| Secondary | 2884 (15.5%) | 568 (20.7%) | 1827 (17.2%) | 153 (13.9%) | 124 (5.2%) | 35 (6.5%) | 138 (27.5%) | 39 (5.4%) |
| High | 1485 (8.0%) | 119 (4.3%) | 1101 (10.4%) | 1 (0.1%) | 131 (5.5%) | 9 (1.7%) | 109 (21.7%) | 15 (2.1%) |
| Paternal characteristics | ||||||||
| Paternal age (mean years, SD) | 42.9 (6.6) | 42.3 (6.3) | 43.4 (6.4) | 40.2 (6.1) | 42.1 (6.8) | 42.9 (7.0) | 44.5 (8.4) | 43.5 (7.3) |
| Paternal country of origin (Greece: n, %) | 14,010 (76.4%) | 1852 (70.3%) | 8200 (78.2%) | 749 (69.0%) | 1786 (74.4%) | 444 (83.6%) | 372 (75.9%) | 607 (86.3%) |
| Paternal educational level (n, %) | ||||||||
| Low (>9 years) | 5706 (30.9%) | 966 (35.5%) | 3039 (28.9%) | 363 (33.3%) | 790 (32.8%) | 147 (27.6%) | 197 (39.6%) | 204 (28.6%) |
| Medium (9–12 years) | 7309 (39.6%) | 1013 (37.3%) | 4210 (40.1%) | 452 (41.5%) | 953 (39.5%) | 212 (39.8%) | 177 (35.5%) | 292 (41.0%) |
| High (>12 years) | 5446 (29.5%) | 738 (27.2%) | 3252 (31.0%) | 274 (25.2%) | 667 (27.7%) | 174 (32.6%) | 124 (24.9%) | 217 (30.4%) |
| Paternal occupational status (available income: n, %) | 14,968 (83.3%) | 1981 (73.6%) | 8611 (84.7%) | 883 (82.8%) | 2002 (85.7%) | 470 (88.7%) | 389 (80.5%) | 632 (91.5%) |
| Maternal characteristics | ||||||||
| Maternal age (mean years, SD) | 38.6 (5.9) | 37.9 (5.6) | 39.1 (5.7) | 36.3 (5.8) | 37.9 (6.2) | 38.3 (6.0) | 39.9 (7.7) | 38.9 (6.5) |
| Maternal country of origin (Greece: n, %) | 13,603 (73.8%) | 1748 (67.1%) | 7977 (75.4%) | 726 (66.2%) | 1734 (71.9%) | 447 (84.3%) | 375 (74.9%) | 596 (83.6%) |
| Maternal educational level (n, %) | ||||||||
| Low (>9 years) | 4450 (23.8%) | 754 (27.5%) | 2367 (22.3%) | 302 (27.4%) | 566 (23.3%) | 128 (24.0%) | 183 (35.5%) | 150 (20.9%) |
| Medium (9–12 years) | 7011 (37.5%) | 1070 (39.0%) | 4079 (38.3%) | 391 (35.4%) | 916 (37.6%) | 167 (31.3%) | 175 (34.0%) | 213 (29.7%) |
| High (>12 years) | 7226 (38.7%) | 921 (33.5%) | 4194 (39.4%) | 410 (37.2%) | 951 (39.1%) | 238 (44.7%) | 157 (30.5%) | 355 (49.4%) |
| Maternal occupational status (available income: n, %) | 8516 (46.7%) | 1121 (41.6%) | 5075 (48.9%) | 455 (42.2%) | 1036 (43.9%) | 244 (46.4%) | 208 (42.3%) | 377 (53.7%) |
| Household characteristics | ||||||||
| Family affluence score (mean, SD) | 3.7 (1.9) | 3.4 (1.8) | 3.8 (1.9) | 3.5 (1.9) | 3.6 (1.8) | 4 (1.9) | 3.5 (2) | 4.1 (1.9) |
| Family affluence level (n, %) | ||||||||
| Low | 5173 (27.6%) | 922 (33.5%) | 2744 (25.8%) | 360 (32.6%) | 694 (28.5%) | 125 (23.4%) | 172 (33.2%) | 156 (21.7%) |
| Medium | 10,209 (54.6%) | 1442 (52.4%) | 5926 (55.6%) | 580 (52.5%) | 1326 (54.4%) | 281 (52.6%) | 262 (50.6%) | 392 (54.6%) |
| High | 3334 (17.8%) | 388 (14.1%) | 1983 (18.6%) | 164 (14.9%) | 417 (17.1%) | 128 (24.0%) | 84 (16.2%) | 170 (23.7%) |
| Parental educational level (n, %) | ||||||||
| Low (>9 years) | 3122 (16.7%) | 519 (18.9%) | 1618 (15.2%) | 216 (19.6%) | 427 (17.5%) | 89 (16.7%) | 149 (28.8%) | 104 (14.5%) |
| Medium (9–12 years) | 6915 (36.9%) | 1034 (37.6%) | 4011 (37.6%) | 406 (36.7%) | 908 (37.3%) | 155 (29.0%) | 175 (33.8%) | 226 (31.5%) |
| High (>12 years) | 8679 (46.4%) | 1199 (43.6%) | 5024 (47.2%) | 482 (43.7%) | 1102 (45.2%) | 290 (54.3%) | 194 (37.4%) | 388 (54.0%) |
| Parental income sources (n, %) | ||||||||
| No income source | 1906 (10.8%) | 501 (18.6%) | 917 (9.2%) | 130 (12.4%) | 225 (9.9%) | 38 (7.3%) | 56 (12.0%) | 39 (5.7%) |
| Available income source by one parent | 8501 (48.0%) | 1280 (47.5%) | 4760 (47.6%) | 525 (49.9%) | 1147 (50.2%) | 260 (49.8%) | 237 (50.9%) | 292 (42.7%) |
| Available income source by both parents | 7289 (41.2%) | 911 (33.9%) | 4320 (43.2%) | 396 (37.7%) | 912 (39.9%) | 224 (42.9%) | 173 (37.1%) | 353 (51.6%) |
| Household structure (n, %) | ||||||||
| Single parent households | 1672 (9.1%) | 202 (7.5%) | 987 (9.4%) | 99 (9.1%) | 236 (9.9%) | 25 (4.7%) | 74 (14.7%) | 49 (6.9%) |
| Two parent households | 16,793 (90.9%) | 2509 (92.5%) | 9542 (90.6%) | 993 (90.9%) | 2153 (90.1%) | 503 (95.3%) | 430 (85.3%) | 663 (93.1%) |
| No. of children in household (n, %) | ||||||||
| Single child | 2914 (15.9%) | 382 (13.9%) | 1598 (15.4%) | 204 (19.1%) | 416 (17.5%) | 104 (19.7%) | 98 (19.8%) | 112 (15.9%) |
| Two children | 10,352 (56.6%) | 1530 (55.8%) | 5927 (57.0%) | 599 (55.9%) | 1350 (57.0%) | 294 (55.6%) | 262 (52.8%) | 390 (55.3%) |
| Three children | 3583 (19.6%) | 582 (21.2%) | 2044 (19.7%) | 185 (17.3%) | 438 (18.5%) | 97 (18.3%) | 80 (16.1%) | 157 (22.3%) |
| Four or more children | 1453 (7.9%) | 248 (9.1%) | 821 (7.9%) | 83 (7.7%) | 165 (7.0%) | 34 (6.4%) | 56 (11.3%) | 46 (6.5%) |
| Duration of meal provision (n, %) | ||||||||
| 0–89 days | 3145 (16.8%) | 521 (18.9%) | 1454 (13.7%) | 29 (2.6%) | 859 (35.3%) | 25 (4.7%) | 192 (37.1%) | 65 (9.1%) |
| 90–179 days | 6851 (36.6%) | 447 (16.3%) | 4233 (39.7%) | 453 (41.0%) | 1309 (53.7%) | 120 (22.5%) | 284 (54.8%) | 5 (0.7%) |
| 180–280 days | 8720 (46.6%) | 1784 (64.8%) | 4966 (46.6%) | 622 (56.4%) | 269 (11.0%) | 389 (72.8%) | 42 (8.1%) | 648 (90.3%) |
Categorical variables are presented number of observations (relative frequencies). Continuous variables are presented as mean values (Standard Deviation) in case of normal distribution and as median (Interquartile range) for non-normally distributed variables. All but one child from each family was randomly selected to be included in this sample. All children included are distinct. Parental educational level corresponds to the highest educational attainment achieved by one parent in the family. SD: Standard Deviation, n: number of observations, IQR: Interquartile Range.