Table 3.

Social, economic, and lifestyle variables for the sample and population of included children ages 6–17 years from cycles 1–4 of the Canadian Health Measures Survey

Characteristics (N=7,387)	Sample n (%)	Population (%)
Health/health care history
Has a regular doctor	6,611 (89.6)	88.8 (87.0–90.4)
Immediate family history of high BP excluding pregnancy	5,883 (18.2)	17.0 (15.5–18.6)
Complain sick:
Not true	4,975 (72.2)	72.6 (70.6–74.5)
Somewhat true	1,441 (20.9)	20.7 (19.2–22.2)
Certainly true	479 (7.0)	6.7 (5.8–7.7)
Has chronic health issue	2,006 (28.2)	29.2 (27.2–31.2)
Socioeconomic status
White ethnicity	5,617 (79.5)	76.8 (70.8–81.9)
Born in Canada	6,661 (90.2)	89.7 (87.0–91.9)
Education:
High school or below	1,017 (14.1)	14.4 (12.7–16.3)
Above high school	6,177 (85.9)	85.6 (83.7–87.3)
Income:
<$30 000	869 (11.8)	11.8 (10.1–13.8)
≥$30 000	6,518 (88.2)	88.2 (86.2–89.9)
Region:
Ontario	2,634 (35.7)	40.2 (39.3–41.1)
Atlantic Canada	833 (11.3)	6.6 (6.3–7.0)
Quebec	1,843 (25.0)	22.3 (21.6–22.9)
Prairies	1,048 (14.2)	18.5 (17.7–19.3)
British Columbia	1,029 (13.9)	12.4 (11.6–13.3)
Lifestyle
Salt added to food: Never/Rarely	5,345 (72.4)	71.3 (69.5–73.2)
Sometimes	1,233 (16.7)	16.8 (15.2–18.5)
Often	809 (11.0)	11.8 (10.6–13.1)
Sleep trouble:  Never	2,400 (32.5)	31.7 (29.9–33.6)
Rarely	2,357 (31.9)	32.1 (30.4–33.9)
Sometimes	1,852 (25.1)	25.7 (24.0–27.4)
Most times	564 (7.2)	7.7 (6.8–8.7)
Always	212 (2.9)	2.8 (2.2–3.5)
Smoke in home	788 (10.7)	10.7 (9.3–12.4)
Exercise (6–11years, N=4,195): ≥4 days/week	3,417 (81.4)	81.2 (79.3–82.9)
2–3 days/week	586 (14.0)	13.7 (12.3–15.2)
0–1 days/week	192 (4.6)	5.1 (3.9–6.6)
Substance use (12+ years, N=3,174):
Alcohol this year	1,139 (35.9)	35.8 (32.6–39.1)
Has ever smoked	169 (5.3)	5.8 (4.4–7.8)