Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of 1973–78 cohort ALSWH women included/excluded from the sample † (N = 14 247)
| Included N = 11,436 † | Excluded N = 2,811 † | P-value* | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics | |||
| Mean (Std Dev) | |||
| Weight (kg) | 62.7 (12.5) | 61.8 (13.3) | <0.0001 |
| Height (cm) | 165.9 (7.1) | 165.3 (8.2) | <0.0001 |
| Age at birth of first child** | 27.1 (4.3) | 23.1 (3.7) | 0.0089 |
| Percentage (%) | |||
| BMI | <0.0001 | ||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 9.5 | 13.6 | |
| Normal weight (18.5 -24.9) | 69.0 | 64.3 | |
| Overweight (25.0 – 29.9) | 15.3 | 15.4 | |
| Obese (≥30.0) | 6.2 | 6.7 | |
| Education*** | <0.0001 | ||
| Low | 70.7 | 74.0 | |
| Intermediate | 17.1 | 19.7 | |
| High | 12.2 | 6.3 | |
| Number of children | <0.0001 | ||
| No children | 93.1 | 97.6 | |
| 1 | 5.3 | 1.6 | |
| 2 | 1.3 | 0.7 | |
| 3+ | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
| Marital status | <0.0001 | ||
| Never married | 77.7 | 71.8 | |
| Married/de facto | 21.6 | 26.4 | |
| Separated/divorced/widowed | 0.7 | 1.9 | |
| Living arrangement | <0.0001 | ||
| Parents/relatives | 49.3 | 44.9 | |
| Partner/children | 26.9 | 35.9 | |
| Non-family | 17.7 | 13.1 | |
| Alone | 6.1 | 6.1 | |
| Physical activity | <0.0001 | ||
| Nil/Sedentary | 6.0 | 10.0 | |
| Low | 37.1 | 37.3 | |
| Moderate | 13.4 | 11.7 | |
| High | 43.5 | 41.0 | |
| Alcohol intake | <0.0001 | ||
| Never/rarely | 41.8 | 49.8 | |
| Low risk | 52.9 | 43.5 | |
| Risky/high risk | 5.3 | 6.7 | |
| Smoking status | <0.0001 | ||
| Non-smoker | 54.1 | 44.9 | |
| Ex-Smoker | 15.1 | 15.9 | |
| Current smoker | 30.8 | 39.2 | |
| Mental health (based on MHI-5) | <0.0001 | ||
| Poor (≤52) | 20.7 | 25.8 | |
| Good (>52) | 79.3 | 74.2 | |
| Self-rated health | <0.0001 | ||
| Excellent | 12.8 | 11.4 | |
| Very good | 39.9 | 33.1 | |
| Good | 35.8 | 40.7 | |
| Poor/Fair | 11.5 | 14.8 | |
| Ability to manage on income | <0.0001 | ||
| Easy/Not too bad | 50.1 | 41.4 | |
| Difficult sometimes | 32.6 | 35.5 | |
| Impossible/Always difficult | 17.4 | 23.1 | |
| Body shape dissatisfaction | <0.0001 | ||
| Not at all | 8.8 | 12.8 | |
| Slightly | 25.9 | 23.4 | |
| Moderately | 31.9 | 28.9 | |
| Markedly | 33.3 | 34.9 | |
| Country of birth | <0.0001 | ||
| Australia | 92.6 | 86.9 | |
| Other English speaking | 3.6 | 4.6 | |
| Europe | 0.9 | 1.6 | |
| Asia | 2.0 | 5.4 | |
| Other (incl. Middle East) | 0.8 | 1.5 | |
| Area of residence | 0.4444 | ||
| Urban (major cities) | 51.9 | 51.4 | |
| Rural (inner regional) | 30.4 | 29.8 | |
| Remote (outer regional/ remote) | 17.7 | 18.8 | |
†sample sizes change slightly due to missing values for some variables.
*P-values from independent t-tests for continuous variables and from Pearson chi square tests for categorical variables.
**Age at birth of first child is based on reported information up to Survey Five.
***Education at baseline (Low - higher school certificate or lower (≤12 years), Intermediate - trade/certificate/diploma, High - degree/higher degree).