Table 1.
Demographic characteristics of parents/caregivers and other adults
| Characteristics | Parents of a child/children <18 years of age (n=840) | Other adults (n=1558) | P value* |
| n or mean (% or ±SD) | n or mean (% or ±SD) | ||
| Gender | |||
| Male | 349 (41) | 697 (45) | 0.123 |
| Female | 491 (58) | 861 (55) | |
| Age (years) | 41.1 (±10.3) | 44.3 (±15.3) | < 0.001 |
| Age group (years) | |||
| 18–34 | 224 (27) | 539 (35) | < 0.001 |
| 35–44 | 319 (38) | 208 (13) | |
| 45–55 | 211 (25) | 303 (19) | |
| 55–65 | 86 (10) | 508 (33) | |
| Country of birth† | |||
| Australia | 688 (82) | 1227 (79) | 0.019 |
| UK | 17 (2) | 69 (4) | |
| New Zealand | 9 (1) | 20 (1) | |
| Other‡ | 114 (14) | 226 (15) | |
| Language spoken other than English§ | |||
| English only | 673 (80) | 1296 (84) | 0.088 |
| Other¶ | 159 (19) | 250 (16) | |
| Socioeconomic status** | |||
| High | 369 (44) | 651 (42) | 0.056 |
| Mid | 248 (30) | 427 (28) | |
| Low | 215 (26) | 467 (30) | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 27.1 (±6.3) | 27.2 (±6.2) | 0.156 |
| Weight category†† | |||
| Underweight | 15 (2) | 53 (4) | 0.060 |
| Healthy weight | 298 (40) | 548 (39) | |
| Overweight | 235 (31) | 455 (33) | |
| Obese | 202 (27) | 330 (24) | |
| Diagnosed with a CVD-related condition | |||
| Yes | 243 (29) | 462 (30) | 0.847 |
| No | 584 (70) | 1075 (69) | |
| Don’t know/can’t recall | 13 (1) | 21 (1) | |
| Reported CVD-related conditions included‡‡ | |||
| Heart disease | 44 | 63 | 0.124 |
| Stroke | 40 | 30 | 0.103 |
| High blood pressure | 179 | 335 | 0.266 |
| Heart attack | 26 | 32 | 0.118 |
| Taking medication to control high blood pressure§§ | |||
| Yes | 118/179 (66) | 267/335 (89) | < 0.001 |
| No | 61/179 (34) | 68/335 (21) | |
| Main grocery shopper | |||
| Yes | 639 (76) | 1168 (75) | 0.272 |
| No | 59 (7) | 124 (8) | |
| I share the responsibility | 142 (17) | 266 (17) |
Bolded values represent significance at p<0.05.
*Comparison of sociodemographic variables between parents/caregivers and other adults who did not care for children <18 years was conducted by χ2 analyses for categorical variables and independent sample t-test for continuous variables.
†n=2370, as participants who responded ‘don’t know’ (n=2) (parents/caregivers) and ‘prefer not to answer’ (n=26) (n=10 parents/caregivers and n=16 other adults) were excluded.
‡Includes Italy, Greece, China, Vietnam, Lebanon and others.
§n=2378, as participants who responded ‘don’t know’ (n=1) (parent) and ‘prefer not to answer’ (n=19) (n=7 parents/caregivers and n=12 other adults) were excluded.
¶Includes Italian, Greek, Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, German, Spanish, Tagalog and others.
**Socioeconomic status (SES) based on educational attainment, defined as the following: high SES: those with a university/tertiary qualification; mid-SES: those with a technical/trade certificate or diploma; and low SES: those with some or no level of high school education. n=2377, as participants who responded ’don’t know’ (n=3) (n=2 parents/caregivers and n=1 other adults) and ‘prefer not to answer’ (n=18) (n=6 parents/caregivers and n=12 other adults) were excluded.
††Defined as underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), healthy weight (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2). n=2136, as participants with missing height or weight data were excluded (n=90 parents/caregivers and n=172 other adults).
‡‡n=289 parents/caregivers and 460 other adults, as participants could select more than one category of CVD-related conditions.
§§Question only presented to those who reported being diagnosed with high blood pressure, that is, n=178 for parents/caregivers and n=335 for other adults.
BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease.