Table 1.
Characteristics of Participants (children: n = 2227 in May; guardians: n = 2085 in May)
| Variable | n (%) or mean, SD | First group (n = 1088)a | Second group (n = 1139)a | P valueb | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (n = 2227) | |||||||||
| Children | Sex | Boy | 1091 | (49.0) | 543 | (49.9) | 548 | (48.1) | 0.40 |
| Girl | 1136 | (51.0) | 545 | (50.1) | 591 | (51.9) | |||
| Grade | 5th Grader (10–11 y/o) | 1115 | (50.1) | 554 | (50.9) | 561 | (49.3) | 0.43 | |
| 6th Grader (11–12 y/o) | 1112 | (49.9) | 534 | (49.1) | 578 | (50.8) | |||
| NK score (%)c | mean, SD May n = 2227 | 69.7, | 13.1 | 70.7, | 13.8 | 68.7, | 12.3 | < 0.001 | |
| October n = 2196 | 75.2, | 13.8 | 80.7, | 12.8 | 70.0, | 12.7 | < 0.001 | ||
| February n = 2147 | 78.4, | 12.2 | 78.9, | 12.2 | 77.9, | 12.3 | 0.054 | ||
| Difference b/w O and M n = 2196 | 5.5, | 13.4 | 9.9, | 14.1 | 1.3, | 11.1 | < 0.001 | ||
| Difference b/w F and O n = 2128 | 3.1, | 12.2 | −1.7, | 11.5 | 7.8, | 10.9 | < 0.001 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat is beneficial for youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2227 | 1782 | (80.0) | 868 | (79.8) | 914 | (80.3) | 0.78 | ||
| Yes in October n = 2189 | 1875 | (85.7) | 928 | (87.0) | 947 | (84.4) | 0.09 | ||
| Yes in February n = 2138 | 1906 | (89.2) | 937 | (89.3) | 969 | (89.0) | 0.80 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat earns you esteem from those around youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2227 | 713 | (32.0) | 341 | (31.3) | 372 | (32.7) | 0.51 | ||
| Yes in October n = 2189 | 651 | (29.7) | 329 | (30.8) | 322 | (28.7) | 0.27 | ||
| Yes in February n = 2138 | 713 | (33.4) | 319 | (30.4) | 394 | (36.2) | 0.005 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat places a burden on youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2227 | 550 | (24.7) | 282 | (25.9) | 268 | (23.5) | 0.19 | ||
| Yes in October n = 2188 | 555 | (25.4) | 270 | (25.3) | 285 | (25.4) | 0.95 | ||
| Yes in February n = 2138 | 539 | (25.2) | 275 | (26.2) | 264 | (24.2) | 0.29 | ||
| You discuss meals, food, nutrition, etc. with your guardiansd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2227 | 895 | (40.2) | 406 | (37.3) | 489 | (42.9) | 0.007 | ||
| Yes in October n = 2192 | 994 | (45.4) | 507 | (47.5) | 487 | (43.3) | 0.051 | ||
| Yes in February n = 2138 | 1055 | (49.4) | 505 | (48.1) | 550 | (50.5) | 0.27 | ||
| Guardians | Total (n = 2085)e | First group (n = 1023)e | Second group (n = 1062)e | ||||||
| Relationship | Mother | 1910 | (91.6) | 936 | (91.5) | 974 | (91.7) | 0.95 | |
| Father | 122 | (5.9) | 59 | (5.8) | 63 | (5.9) | |||
| Grandmother | 13 | (0.6) | 7 | (0.7) | 6 | (0.6) | |||
| Other | 40 | (1.9) | 21 | (2.1) | 19 | (1.8) | |||
| Age (y/o) | mean, SD | 41.5, | 5.5 | 42.0, | 5.5 | 41.1, | 5.4 | < 0.001 | |
| Subjective SES | Poor | 645 | (31.4) | 301 | (29.9) | 344 | (32.8) | 0.049 | |
| Average | 1157 | (56.3) | 564 | (56.1) | 593 | (56.5) | |||
| Affluent | 253 | (12.3) | 141 | (14.0) | 112 | (10.7) | |||
| NK score (%)c | mean, SD May n = 2085 | 68.2, | 15.4 | 69.6, | 14.9 | 66.8, | 15.8 | < 0.001 | |
| October n = 1892 | 70.2, | 14.7 | 71.6, | 14.3 | 68.8, | 15.0 | < 0.001 | ||
| February n = 1768 | 71.6, | 14.0 | 72.9, | 13.6 | 70.4, | 14.3 | < 0.001 | ||
| Difference b/w O and M n = 1792 | 1.8, | 10.4 | 1.9, | 10.1 | 1.8, | 10.6 | 0.72 | ||
| Difference b/w F and O n = 1611 | 1.0, | 9.7 | 0.7, | 9.7 | 1.3, | 9.6 | 0.24 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat is beneficial for youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2066 | 1943 | (94.1) | 957 | (94.2) | 986 | (93.9) | 0.78 | ||
| Yes in October n = 1865 | 1742 | (93.4) | 858 | (94.7) | 884 | (92.2) | 0.03 | ||
| Yes in February n = 1754 | 1667 | (95.0) | 811 | (95.1) | 856 | (95.0) | 0.95 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat earns you esteem from those around youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2059 | 871 | (42.3) | 435 | (42.9) | 436 | (41.7) | 0.56 | ||
| Yes in October n = 1864 | 772 | (41.4) | 380 | (42.0) | 392 | (40.9) | 0.63 | ||
| Yes in February n = 1748 | 798 | (45.7) | 401 | (47.1) | 397 | (44.3) | 0.23 | ||
| Being careful about what you eat places a burden on youd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2062 | 875 | (42.4) | 429 | (42.3) | 446 | (42.6) | 0.91 | ||
| Yes in October n = 1866 | 758 | (40.6) | 361 | (39.9) | 397 | (41.4) | 0.51 | ||
| Yes in February n = 1753 | 713 | (40.7) | 351 | (41.2) | 362 | (40.2) | 0.69 | ||
| You discuss meals, food, nutrition, etc. with your childd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2052 | 1400 | (68.2) | 682 | (67.9) | 718 | (68.6) | 0.73 | ||
| Yes in October n = 1868 | 1353 | (72.4) | 680 | (75.1) | 673 | (70.0) | 0.01 | ||
| Yes in February n = 1754 | 1303 | (74.3) | 639 | (74.9) | 664 | (73.7) | 0.56 | ||
| My current dietary habits are firmly fixed, so changing them is difficultd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2064 | 814 | (39.4) | 375 | (37.0) | 439 | (41.9) | 0.02 | ||
| My dietary habits are healthy, so there’s no need to change themd | |||||||||
| Yes in May n = 2063 | 393 | (19.1) | 189 | (18.6) | 204 | (19.5) | 0.63 | ||
b/w Between, F February, M May, NK score Nutrition knowledge score, O October, SES Socioeconomic status, y/o Years old
a First group means the participant group which received the nutrition education program from June to September. Second group means those who received it from November to January
b Comparison of characteristics between the First and Second groups was performed using the t test for continuous variables and χ2 test for categorical variables
c NK score is the percentage (%) of correct answers (regarded as nutrition knowledge level) in the nutrition knowledge questionnaires
d Percentage who answered ‘Yes’ for the question was calculated. As shown, the total number of responders (i.e. denominator of the calculation) differed by timing of the survey (May, October, and February)
e The numbers shown here includes guardians of 2227 children with information about the relationship with their children (mother, father, grandmother, or others) and NK score