Table 1.
Biological, anthropometric, sociocultural and foot characteristics of the children stratified by backpack use.
| Children Characteristics | All (n = 627) |
Backpack (n = 458) |
Non-Backpack (n = 169) |
p-Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (months) | 8.32 ± 1.61 | 8.68 ± 1.60 | 7.33 ± 1.18 | <0.001 |
| Age categorized, years (%) | ||||
| <7 years | 159 (25.4%) | 83 (18.1%) | 76 (45.0%) | <0.001 |
| 7–9 years | 318 (50.7%) | 232 (50.7%) | 86 (50.9%) | 0.959 |
| >9 years | 150 (23.9%) | 143 (31.2%) | 7 (4.1%) | <0.001 |
| Gender male (%) | 301 (48.0%) | 220 (48.0%) | 81 (47.9%) | 0.981 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 18.76 ± 3.74 | 18.74 ± 4.54 | 18.80 ± 4.54 | 0.875 |
| Overweight-obesity (%) | 42 (4.7%) | 24 (5.2%) | 18 (10.7%) | 0.016 |
| Sedentary (%) | 126 (20.1%) | 95 (20.7%) | 31 (18.3%) | 0.506 |
| Metatarsal formula (%) | ||||
| Index Plus | 163 (26.0%) | 120 (26.2%) | 43 (25.4%) | 0.848 |
| Index Plus Minus | 343 (54.7%) | 251 (54.8%) | 92 (54.4%) | 0.935 |
| Index Minus | 121 (19.3%) | 87 (19.0%) | 34 (20.1%) | 0.752 |
| Foot shape (%) | ||||
| Greek foot | 150 (23.9%) | 109 (23.9%) | 41 (24.3%) | 0.904 |
| Square foot | 372 (59.3%) | 275 (60.0%) | 97 (57.4%) | 0.549 |
| Egyptian foot | 105 (16.7%) | 74 (16.2%) | 31 (18.3%) | 0.515 |
| Shoe type | ||||
| Sport | 411 (65.6%) | 312 (68.1%) | 99 (58.6%) | 0.026 |
| Moccasin | 64 (10.2%) | 36 (7.9%) | 28 (16.6%) | 0.001 |
| Boot | 16 (2.6%) | 9 (2.0%) | 7 (4.1%) | 0.125 |
| Ballet flats | 110 (17.5%) | 84 (18.3%) | 26 (15.4%) | 0.388 |
| Mary Janes | 26 (4.1%) | 17 (3.7%) | 9 (5.3%) | 0.369 |
Data expressed as mean ± standard deviation and frequencies (percentages). Abbreviations: BMI: Body mass index.