Table 4.
Prevalence of normal, below-normal (low) and above-normal (high) Body Mass Index (BMI) of 11-13-year-old schoolchildren according to various variables
| Dependent | variable | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | N |
BMI < normal N = 529 N (%) |
BMI normal N = 1403 n (%) |
BMI > normal N = 19 n (%) |
Chi-square P value* |
| Gender | |||||
| Girls | 1002 | 234 (23.4) | 762 (76.1) | 6 (0.6) | P < 0.001 |
| Boys | 949 | 295 (31.1) | 641 (67.5) | 13 (1.4) | P < 0.001 |
| Socio-economic | |||||
| Rural | 973 | 277 (28.5) | 688 (70.7) | 8 (0.8) | P = 0.18 |
| Urban | 978 | 252 (25.8) | 715 (73.1) | 11 (1.1) | P = 0.18 |
| TV at home - yes | 1443 | 373 (25.9) | 1053 (73.0) | 17 (1.2) | P = 0.04 |
| TV at home - no | 508 | 156 (30.7) | 350 (68.9) | 2 (0.4) | P = 0.04 |
| Siblings 0-4* | 1201 | 291 (24.2) | 892 (74.3) | 18 (1.5) | P < 0.001 |
| Siblings >4* | 742 | 234 (31.5) | 507 (68.3) | 1 (0.1) | P < 0.001 |
| Caries status | |||||
| DMFT + dmft = 0 | 346 | 86 (24.9) | 256 (74.0) | 4 (1.2) | P = 0.30 |
| DMFT + dmft >0 | 1605 | 443 (27.6) | 1147 (71.5) | 15 (0.9) | P = 0.30 |
| PUFA + pufa = 0 | 865 | 198 (22.9) | 655 (75.7) | 12 (1.4) | P < 0.001 |
| PUFA + pufa >0 | 1086 | 331 (30.5) | 748 (68.9) | 7 (0.6) | P < 0.001 |
| PUFA + pufa = 1 | 439 | 129 (29.4) | 307 (69.9) | 3 (0.7) | P = 0.52 |
| PUFA + pufa >1 | 647 | 202 (31.2) | 441 (68.2) | 4 (0.6) | P = 0.52 |
* 8 children not included in this variable due to incomplete data
Due to small numbers in the high BMI cell, P-values were calculated on dichotomised BMI classes (low versus normal + high).