Table 1.
Description of the Sample
| Behavioral Variables | Variable Description | Summary Statistic (n = 581) |
| Knowledge | ||
| Know Pyramid | Know food pyramid = 1 | 0.83a |
| Read Labels | Most of the time, sometimes, rarely, never | Most of the timeb |
| Type of Labels Read | ||
| Calories | Read calories label = 1 | 0.48a |
| Carbohydrates | Read carbohydrates label = 1 | 0.23a |
| Fat | Read fat label = 1 | 0.48a |
| Protein | Read protein label = 1 | 0.08a |
| Salt | Read salt label = 1 | 0.18a |
| Serving size | Read serving size = 1 | 0.05a |
| Sugar | Read sugar content = 1 | 0.22a |
| Food Behavior | ||
| Overweight | Overweight = 1 | 0.53a |
| Calories right | More, less, about right amount | Less than neededb |
| Eat well | Always, sometimes, never choose a healthy diet | Sometimes choose a healthy dietb |
| Eat weight | Eating to lose weight = 1 | 0.55a |
| Fast food meals | Percent fast food meals | 12.2 (18.0)c |
| Restaurant meals | Percent restaurant meals | 12.8 (15.6)c |
| Prepared meals | Percent prepared food meals | 6.9 (13.0)c |
| Scratch meals | Percent meals from scratch | 67.0 (27.4)c |
| Risk Factors | ||
| Smoker | Smoker = 1 | 0.17a |
| Illness | Illness limits activity = 1 | 0.24a |
| Insurance | Covered by insurance = 1 | 0.89a |
| Activity | ||
| TV | Minutes of TV | 123.5 (101.6)c |
| Computer | Minutes of home computer | 52.9 (74.6)c |
| Exercise | Exercise 30 minutes/day, 5 times/wk = 1 | 0.66a |
| Exercise weight | Using exercise to lose weight = 1 | 0.49a |
| Demographic Variables | ||
| gender | Gender (1 = male) | 0.45a |
| education | ||
| Less than HS = 1 | 0.02a | |
| HS grad = 1 | 0.08a | |
| Some college = 1 | 0.53a | |
| Bachelors or more = 1 | 0.37a | |
| income | ||
| Less than $20,000 = 1 | 0.13a | |
| $20,001 to $35,000 = 1 | 0.18a | |
| $35,001 to $50,000 = 1 | 0.17a | |
| $50,001 to $65,000 = 1 | 0.15a | |
| $65,001 or greater = 1 | 0.38a | |
| children | Has children = 1 | 0.42a |
| Employment | ||
| employed | Employed = 1 | 0.55a |
| unemp | Unemployed = 1 | 0.04a |
| retired | Retired = 1 | 0.18a |
| age | Age in years | 45.27 (17.8)c |
| Region | ||
| neast | Northeast = 1 | 0.28a |
| south | South = 1 | 0.27a |
| midamer | Middle America = 1 | 0.26a |
| west | West = 1 | 0.21a |
| Urban characteristic | ||
| rural | Rural = 1 | 0.32a |
| suburb | Suburban = 1 | 0.75a |
| urban | Urban = 1 | 0.25a |
n = 581
a dummy variable 0/1
b median reported;
c continuous variable, standard deviation in ()