Table 3.
Breakfast intake preferences by Saudi children relative to gender (more than one choice was possible)
| Variable | Boys | Girls | All | p-value a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preference for cereal with/without added sugar (%) | 0.374 | |||
| With added sugar | 72.9 | 70.1 | 71.5 | |
| Without added sugar | 27.1 | 29.9 | 28.5 | |
| Preference for cereal with or without fruit (%) | 0.439 | |||
| With fruit | 16.8 | 19.1 | 18.0 | |
| Without fruit | 83.2 | 80.9 | 82 | |
| Percentage of fresh fruit eaten with breakfast (%) | 43.2 | 49.6 | 46.4 | 0.037 |
| Types of fruits most consumed with breakfast (%): | ||||
| Apple | 18.0 | 25.6 | 21.8 | 0.003 |
| Banana | 19.1 | 23.3 | 21.2 | 0.098 |
| Orange | 12.8 | 14.2 | 13.5 | 0.509 |
| Grape | 9.0 | 13.1 | 11.0 | 0.035 |
| Pear | 3.1 | 5.7 | 4.4 | 0.038 |
| Strawberries | 2.5 | 5.7 | 4.1 | 0.009 |
| Percentage of drinks consumed with breakfast (%) | 98.1 | 96.0 | 97.1 | 0.048 |
| Types of drinks most consumed with breakfast (%): | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.420 |
| Full fat milk | 42.3 | 39.4 | 40.8 | 0.345 |
| Tea with milk | 34.4 | 34.7 | 34.5 | 0.934 |
| Water | 26.4 | 33.3 | 29.9 | 0.014 |
| Fruit juice | 22.0 | 26.7 | 24.4 | 0.075 |
| Tea | 13.2 | 12.3 | 12.7 | 0.668 |
| Fruit drink | 7.3 | 8.3 | 7.8 | 0.519 |
| Low fat milk | 4.8 | 9.3 | 7.0 | 0.004 |
| Soft drink (soft beverage) | 5.9 | 1.7 | 3.8 | < 0.001 |
aChi Squares tests of the proportions for significant difference between boys and girls