Table 6.
Socio-demographic correlates of dietary behaviors independently associated with higher BMI and overweight among Pakistani primary school children
| Total Sample (n = 1860) | Skipping breakfast (n = 141) | Eating fast food and snacks ≥ once a week (n = 798) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | n (%) | n (%) | χ2 | P value | n (%) | χ2 | P value |
| Gender | |||||||
| Boys | 977 (52.5) | 58 (5.9) | 7.94 | 0.005 | 446 (45.6) | 6.34 | 0.012 |
| Girls | 883 (47.5) | 83 (9.4) | 352 (39.9) | ||||
| Area and socioeconomic status (SES) | |||||||
| Urban, high SES | 465 (25.0) | 68 (14.6) | 50.79 | < 0.001 | 274 (58.9) | 233.88 | < 0.001 |
| Urban, middle SES | 465 (25.0) | 26 (5.6) | 254 (54.6) | ||||
| Urban, low SES | 465 (25.0) | 34 (7.3) | 205 (44.1) | ||||
| Rural, low/disadvantaged SES | 465 (25.0) | 13 (2.8) | 65 (14.0) | ||||
| Neighborhood income | |||||||
| Low | 651 (35.0) | 22 (3.4) | 33.72 | < 0.001 | 154 (23.7) | 151.87 | < 0.001 |
| Middle | 910 (48.9) | 78 (8.6) | 480 (52.7) | ||||
| High | 299 (16.1) | 41 (13.7) | 164 (54.8) | ||||
| Parental education | |||||||
| Illiterate | 366 (19.7) | 13 (3.6) | 23.78 | < 0.001 | 64 (17.5) | 176.82 | < 0.001 |
| High school | 496 (26.7) | 25 (5.0) | 177 (35.7) | ||||
| College | 531 (28.5) | 54 (10.2) | 307 (57.8) | ||||
| Higher education | 467 (25.1) | 49 (10.5) | 250 (53.5) | ||||
| Parental working status | |||||||
| Father only | 1465 (78.8) | 111 (7.6) | 0.00 | 0.990 | 590 (40.3) | 19.48 | < 0.001 |
| Both parents | 395 (21.2) | 30 (7.6) | 208 (52.7) | ||||
| Number of siblings | |||||||
| No | 26 (1.4) | 2 (7.7) | 14.67 | 0.001 | 13 (50.0) | 69.47 | < 0.001 |
| 1-3 | 1008 (54.2) | 98 (9.7) | 519 (51.5) | ||||
| > 3 | 826 (44.4) | 41 (5.0) | 266 (32.2) | ||||
| Number of persons in child's living room | |||||||
| No | 116 (6.2) | 10 (8.6) | 1.62 | 0.444 | 70 (60.3) | 51.45 | < 0.001 |
| 1-3 | 791 (42.5) | 66 (8.3) | 392 (49.6) | ||||
| > 3 | 953 (51.2) | 65 (6.8) | 336 (35.3) | ||||