Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population a
| |
Age 4–6 yearsb |
Age 7–9 years |
Age 10–12 yearsb |
Total (n = 3,651) |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boys (n = 637) | Girls (n = 611) | Boys (n = 692) | Girls (n = 665) | Boys (n = 520) | Girls (n = 526) | ||
| Age (years) |
5.0 (0.8) |
5.0 (0.8) |
8.0 (0.8) |
8.0 (0.8) |
10.7 (0.7) |
10.7 (0.7) |
7.8 (2.4) |
| BMI c (kg/m2) |
15.4 (2.0) |
15.2 (2.2) |
16.3 (2.7) |
16.4 (2.7) |
17.5 (3.2) |
17.4 (2.8) |
16.3 (2.7) |
| Overweight d (%) |
6.5 |
10.2 |
11.2 |
12.9 |
10.6 |
11.7 |
10.5 |
| Obesity d (%) |
3.4 |
3.8 |
3.1 |
4.3 |
2.7 |
1.3 |
3.2 |
| Parental education level (%) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| - Low e |
25.3 |
26.4 |
29.5 |
28.1 |
35.0 |
35.6 |
29.6 |
| - Intermediate f |
36.6 |
40.6 |
36.4 |
37.4 |
33.3 |
31.9 |
36.2 |
| - High g |
38.1 |
33.1 |
34.1 |
34.4 |
31.7 |
32.5 |
34.1 |
| Net household income (Euros per month) |
2,754 (1,230) |
2,818 (1,277) |
2,814 (1,303) |
2,761 (1,326) |
2,720 (1,345) |
2,596 (1,289) |
2,751 (1,295) |
| Outdoor play (minutes per week) | 408 (266) | 378 (256) | 455 (289)* | 398 (272)* | 444 (284)* | 381 (285)* | 411 (277) |
a Values are mean (SD), unless otherwise specified.
b In The Netherlands, children aged 4–12 years are educated at the same primary school. In the current study sample, two children in the lowest age groups were aged 3 years and 8 children in the highest age groups were aged 13 years. These children were included in the lowest (4–6 years) and highest (10–12 years) age groups, respectively.
c Based on parental self report of height and weight of their child.
d Based on age and gender specific cut off points as provided by Cole et al. [20].
e No education, primary education, lower general secondary education or lower vocational education.
f Higher general secondary education, pre-university education or intermediate vocational education.
g Higher vocational education or university.
* Boldface indicates significant differences between boys and girls within each age group (p < 0.05).