Table 1.

Descriptive statistics by age and sex¹

N=4355	Ages 8–11 (n=2214)			Ages 12–15 (n=2141)
	Girls	Boys	p	Girls	Boys	p
n	1118	1096		1050	1091
Race/Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic White	55.2	58.7	0.519	59.8	59.9	0.572
Non-Hispanic Black	15.0	13.2		14.7	13.3
Hispanic	20.7	19.6		18.6	18.4
Other	9.1	8.6		7.0	8.5
Income
<100% Federal Poverty Level (FPL)	23.5	20.6	0.093	19.3	20.8	0.206
100–199% FPL	24.3	21.9		22.1	20.3
200–299% FPL	14.0	18.1		19.0	14.6
300–399% FPL	15.1	11.9		11.7	13.4
400–499% FPL	9.5	11.5		8.9	12.2
>500% FPL	13.7	16.1		19.0	18.8
Measured Weight Status
Overweight/obese (>85th percentile)	34.8	36.6	0.750	36.7	32.9	0.260
Healthy Weight (5–85th percentile)	62.1	60.7		60.3	62.5
Underweight (<5th percentile)	3.1	2.7		3.1	4.6
Perceived Weight Status
Overweight	16.1	14.7	0.535	24.5	15.3	<0.0001
About Right	77.3	77.5		70.1	75.5
Underweight	6.6	7.8		5.4	9.2
Accuracy of Perception
Underestimates	25.3	30.1	0.124	20.1	25.7	0.027
Correct	71.4	66.1		74.2	70.8
Overestimates	3.4	3.8		5.7	3.5
Currently trying to do about weight:
Lose	31.7	30.7	<0.0001	40.3	25.6	<0.0001
Gain	7.0	13.9		5.0	18.9
Stay the same	27.7	27.2		26.3	24.5
Nothing	33.6	28.1		28.4	31.0
How often tried to lose weight:
Never	49.5	48.0	0.562	47.7	62.5	<0.0001
Sometimes	41.5	41.6		41.9	29.7
A lot	9.0	10.4		10.3	7.7
How often been on a diet to lose weight:
Never	59.3	57.9	0.799	48.9	58.7	0.054
Sometimes	35.8	36.3		45.3	37.4
A lot	5.0	5.8		5.8	3.9
How often starved to lose weight:
Never	83.6	75.6	0.001	83.4	87.1	0.089
Sometimes	14.3	22.8		14.1	12.4
A lot	2.1	1.6		2.5	0.5
How often cut back on eating to lose weight:
Never	36.5	24.8	0.001	18.6	28.6	0.028
Sometimes	55.9	65.8		66.3	58.6
A lot	7.7	9.4		15.1	12.8
How often skipped meals to lose weight:
Never	72.1	57.2	<0.0001	64.5	69.8	0.391
Sometimes	24.6	34.9		30.3	25.9
A lot	3.3	7.9		5.2	4.4
How often exercised to lose weight:
Never	59.3	57.9	0.799	48.9	58.7	0.054
Sometimes	35.8	36.3		45.3	37.4
A lot	5.0	5.8		5.8	3.9

¹Significance test of difference between boys and girls.