Table 1.
Characteristics of weekday and weekend samples of children and adolescents and parent-proxy from the National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey 2011–2012 1.
| Weekday (Monday–Thursday) |
Weekend (Friday–Sunday) |
p-Value 6 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | ||
| Child Characteristics (2–17 yo) | n = 1726 | n = 858 | |||
| Sex (n = 2584) | 0.309 | ||||
| Male | 855 | 49.5 | 444 | 51.7 | |
| Female | 871 | 50.5 | 414 | 48.3 | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) (n = 2584) | 9.0 | 4.9 | 9.4 | 4.8 | 0.075 |
| BMI (kg/m2) 2 (n = 2122) | 0.454 | ||||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 75 | 5.4 | 32 | 4.4 | |
| Healthy weight (18.5–24.99) | 947 | 68.0 | 508 | 69.7 | |
| Overweight (25–29.99) | 257 | 18.4 | 140 | 19.2 | |
| Obesity (>30) | 114 | 8.2 | 49 | 6.7 | |
| Days met physical activity and screen-based recommendations, mean (SD) 3 (n = 2534) | 3.1 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.4 | 0.280 |
| Parent-proxy Characteristics (18+ yo) | n = 1726 | n = 858 | |||
| Sex (n = 2584) | 0.001 | ||||
| Male | 672 | 38.9 | 392 | 45.7 | |
| Female | 1054 | 61.1 | 466 | 54.3 | |
| Age (years), mean (SD) (n = 2584) | 39.7 | 9.9 | 39.8 | 8.7 | 0.715 |
| BMI (kg/m2) 2 (n = 2215) | 0.797 | ||||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 19 | 1.3 | 10 | 1.3 | |
| Healthy weight (18.5–24.99) | 547 | 31.8 | 280 | 36.4 | |
| Overweight (25–29.99) | 479 | 33.1 | 271 | 35.2 | |
| Obesity (>30) | 401 | 27.7 | 208 | 27.0 | |
| Education Level (n = 2584) | 0.133 | ||||
| Tertiary | 488 | 28.3 | 268 | 31.2 | |
| Diploma/Certificate | 632 | 36.6 | 320 | 37.3 | |
| High school or less | 606 | 35.1 | 270 | 31.5 | |
| Employment Status (n = 2584) | <0.001 | ||||
| Employed | 1279 | 74.2 | 700 | 81.6 | |
| Unemployed | 49 | 2.8 | 17 | 2.0 | |
| Not in Labor Force | 398 | 23.1 | 141 | 16.4 | |
| Household Income (deciles) 4, mean (SD) (n = 2362) | 5.3 | 2.7 | 5.8 | 2.7 | <0.001 |
| SEIFA 5 (n = 2584) | 0.128 | ||||
| Lowest quintile | 305 | 17.7 | 134 | 15.6 | |
| Second quintile | 317 | 18.4 | 158 | 18.4 | |
| Third quintile | 369 | 21.4 | 158 | 18.4 | |
| Fourth quintile | 319 | 18.5 | 174 | 20.3 | |
| Highest quintile | 416 | 24.1 | 234 | 27.3 | |
1 All results presented as N (%) unless reported otherwise. 2 BMI, Body mass index categories; Underweight <18.5 kg/m2; Normal weight 18.5–24.99 kg/m2; Overweight 25–29.99 kg/m2; Obesity >30 kg/m2; missing data n = 333 weekday sample children, n = 129 weekend sample children, n = 280 weekday sample parent-proxy, n = 89 weekend sample parent-proxy. 3 Number of days met physical activity and screen-based recommendations in 7 days prior to interview, missing data n = 40 weekday sample children, n = 10 weekend sample children. 4 Gross weekly equivalized cash income of household; 1st decile <AUD 333, 2nd decile AUD 333–398, 3rd decile AUD 399–502, 4th decile AUD 503-638, 5th decile AUD 639–795, 6th decile AUD 796–958, 7th decile AUD 959–1151, 8th decile AUD 1152–1437, 9th decile AUD 1438–1917, 10th decile >AUD 1918, missing data n = 151 weekday sample, n = 71 weekend sample. 5 SEIFA, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage 2011—low index score indicated relatively greater disadvantage, high index score indicated a relative lack of disadvantage. 6 Differences between weekday and weekend samples tested using chi square for categorical variables (sex, BMI, education level, employment status and SEIFA) and independent samples t-test for continuous variables (age, physical activity and screen-based recommendations, household income deciles).