Table 1.
Socio-demographic, anthropometric, and physical activity measures by breakfast consumer category.
| Characteristic | Breakfast Cereal Consumers 1 | Non-Cereal Breakfast Consumers 2 | Breakfast Skippers 3 | p Value from Pearson’s Chi-Square Test * |
| N (%) | 3798 (40.7%) | 4392 (47.0%) | 1151 (12.3%) | |
| Age (years ± SE) | 50.2 ± 0.3 a | 44.9 ± 0.2 b | 38.7 ± 0.4 c | <0.001 |
| Age group (% within age group) | <0.001 | |||
| 19–30 years | 32.2% | 46.6% | 21.2% | |
| 31–50 years | 36.2% | 51.5% | 12.3% | |
| 51–70 years | 45.3% | 46.0% | 8.7% | |
| 71+ years | 61.9% | 35.1% | 3.1% | |
| Sex (% within sex group) | <0.001 | |||
| Male | 41.2% | 44.7% | 14.1% | |
| Female | 40.1% | 49.3% | 10.6% | |
| BMI group † (% within breakfast category) | <0.001 | |||
| Underweight | 1.2% | 2.2% | 2.3% | |
| Normal | 37.2% | 34.7% | 32.7% | |
| Overweight | 36.6% | 36.5% | 35.6% | |
| Obese | 25.0% | 26.6% | 29.5% | |
| Waist group ‡ (% within breakfast category) | 0.268 | |||
| Not at risk of metabolic complications | 36.9% | 37.5% | 38.8% | |
| Increased risk of metabolic complications | 24.0% | 22.4% | 20.8% | |
| Substantially increased risk of metabolic complications | 39.1% | 40.1% | 40.4% | |
| SES quintile § (% within breakfast category) | <0.001 | |||
| Lowest 20% | 16.1% | 18.7% | 22.0% | |
| Second quintile | 18.6% | 20.4% | 23.8% | |
| Third quintile | 20.9% | 20.9% | 18.6% | |
| Fourth quintile | 19.9% | 18.5% | 17.9% | |
| Highest 20% | 24.4% | 21.5% | 17.7% | |
| Whether participated in sufficient activity in last week || (% within breakfast category) | <0.001 | |||
| Inactive | 18.6% | 20.6% | 27.7% | |
| Insufficiently active | 35.7% | 36.4% | 35.3% | |
| Sufficiently active for health | 45.7% | 43.0% | 37.0% | |
| Characteristic | Breakfast Cereal Consumers 1 | Non-Cereal Breakfast Consumers 2 | Breakfast Skippers 3 | p Value ** |
| BMI ¶ (kg/m2 ± SE) | 26.9 ± 0.1 a | 27.4 ± 0.1 b | 28.0 ± 0.2 b | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference ¶ (cm ± SE) | 92.5 ± 0.2 a | 93.8 ± 0.2 b | 94.8 ± 0.4 b | <0.001 |
Abbreviations: SE—standard error; BMI—body mass index; SES—socio-economic status. 1 Breakfast cereal consumers had any food from the sub-major food groups “breakfast cereals, ready to eat” or “breakfast cereals, hot porridge style”, either at any time of day with a “breakfast” eating occasion, or between 5.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. with an “extended consumption” eating occasion. 2 Non-cereal consumers reported “breakfast” eating occasions but were not breakfast cereal consumers. 3 Breakfast skippers did not report a “breakfast” eating occasion. a,b,c Different superscripts denotes significant difference between groups (p < 0.001) by post hoc, Bonferroni. * p values show associations between breakfast consumer categories and demographic, anthropometric, and lifestyle measures. ** Univariate ANOVAs denote the effect of breakfast consumer category on anthropometric measures. † Based on BMI: underweight (<18.5), normal weight (≥18.5, <25.0), overweight (≥25.0, <30.0), obese (≥30.0). ‡ Based on World Health Organization cut-offs for waist circumference: not at risk of metabolic complications (females: <80 cm; males: <94 cm); increased risk of metabolic complications (females: ≥80 cm, <88 cm; males: ≥94 cm, <102 cm); substantially increased risk of metabolic complications (females: >88 cm; males: >102 cm). § Based on Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), a product developed by the ABS that ranks areas in Australia according to their relative socio-economic advantage. || For adults 18 years and over at least 150 min of physical activity over five or more sessions per week is recommended. ¶ Adjusted for age group, sex, physical activity, and energy intake.