Table 1.
Participant characteristics—diet trajectories, demographic, socioeconomic, behavioural, and biological characteristics based on anthropometric groups (n = 738).
| Characteristics | Healthy a (n = 666) | Overweight and Obese b (n = 72) |
|---|---|---|
| Diet trajectories | ||
| Core foods | ||
| Lowest (Gradual increase with late decrease) | 149 (89.76%) | 17 (10.24%) |
| Medium (Rapid increase with late decrease) | 288 (88.62%) | 37 (11.38%) |
| Highest (Rapid increase with early decrease) | 229 (92.71%) | 18 (7.29%) |
| Discretionary foods | ||
| Lowest (Low and gradual rising) | 282 (93.69%) | 19 (6.31%) |
| Medium (Moderate and stable) | 297 (89.46%) | 35 (10.54%) |
| Highest (High and late declining) | 87 (82.86%) | 18 (17.14%) |
| Demographic factors | ||
| Child age (in years) Mean ±SD | 3.57 ± 0.25 | 3.58 ± 0.27 |
| Child gender | ||
| Male | 350 (91.15%) | 34 (8.85%) |
| Female | 316 (89.27%) | 38 (10.73%) |
| Maternal age (in years) Mean ± SD | 31.54 ± 5.02 | 30.64 ± 6.58 |
| Maternal marital status | ||
| Married | 616 (90.32%) | 66 (9.68%) |
| Single | 50 (89.89%) | 6 (10.71%) |
| Maternal country of birth | ||
| Australia-born | 309 (9.09%) | 34 (9.91%) |
| English speaking country | 36 (90%) | 4 (10%) |
| Non-English-speaking country | 321 (90.42%) | 34 (9.58%) |
| Number of children in household | ||
| 1 | 334 (90.27%) | 36 (9.73%) |
| 2 | 210 (90.52%) | 22 (9.48%) |
| ≥3 | 122 (89.71%) | 14 (10.29%) |
| Individual-level socioeconomic status | ||
| Maternal education | ||
| University | 314 (92.90%) | 24 (7.10%) |
| College/TAFE | 119 (89.47%) | 14 (10.53%) |
| Completed 12 | 132 (88.59%) | 17 (11.41%) |
| Left school < 12 | 101 (85.59%) | 17 (14.41%) |
| Maternal work status | ||
| Not working | 339 (88.74%) | 43 (11.26%) |
| Working | 298 (91.98%) | 26 (8.02%) |
| Area-level socioeconomic status | ||
| Index of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage | ||
| Deciles 9–10 | 162 (95.29%) | 8 (4.71%) |
| Deciles 7–8 | 123 (92.48%) | 10 (7.52%) |
| Deciles 5–6 | 18 (90%) | 2 (10%) |
| Deciles 3–4 | 157 (88.70%) | 20 (11.30%) |
| Deciles 1–2 | 206 (86.55%) | 32 (13.45%) |
| Behavioural factors | ||
| Breastfeeding duration | ||
| <17 weeks | 236 (87.41%) | 34 (12.59%) |
| 17–25 weeks | 71 (89.87%) | 8 (10.13%) |
| 26–51 weeks | 165 (90.16%) | 18 (9.84%) |
| ≥52 weeks | 193 (94.15%) | 12 (5.85%) |
| Age of introduction of solid foods | ||
| <17 weeks | 63 (85.14%) | 11 (14.86%) |
| 17–25 weeks | 362 (90.05%) | 40 (9.95%) |
| ≥26 weeks | 232 (91.70%) | 21 (8.30%) |
| Infant feeding at 4-weeks age | ||
| Only BF | 436 (92.77%) | 34 (7.23%) |
| Only FF | 87 (83.65%) | 17 (16.35%) |
| Both BF and FF | 143 (87.20%) | 21 (12.80%) |
| Outdoor physical activity | ||
| ≥180 min | 414 (89.61%) | 48 (10.39%) |
| <180 min | 239 (91.22%) | 23 (8.78%) |
| Maternal smoking during pregnancy | ||
| No | 636 (90.60%) | 66 (9.40%) |
| Yes | 30 (83.33%) | 6 (16.67%) |
| Biological factors | ||
| Infant birthweight | ||
| Normal/High | 634 (90.44%) | 67 (9.56%) |
| Low | 32 (86.49%) | 5 (13.51%) |
a,b The total of the categories might not always add up to 738 due to missing or incomplete data for some items. Index of relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage: deciles 9–10 = least disadvantaged; deciles 7–8 = low disadvantaged; deciles 5–6 = moderately disadvantaged; deciles 3–4 = highly disadvantaged; deciles 1–2 = most disadvantaged. SD: standard deviation. n: sample size. BF: breastfeeding. FF: formula feeding.