Table 2.
Mean scores of Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults (HEIFA-2013) by sociodemographic characteristics from domestic and international students attending a large Australian university 1.
| Sociodemographic Characteristics | Total (n = 141) | Domestic (n = 115) | International (n = 26) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N (%) | Mean | 95% CI | p | N (%) | Mean | 95% CI | p | N (%) | Mean | 95% CI | p | |
| Age | ||||||||||||
| 18–22 years | 102 (72) | 51.2 | 48.4–54.0 | 0.098 | 83 (72) | 51.4 | 48.2–54.6 | 0.157 | 19 (73) | 49.9 | 43.7–56.2 | 0.323 |
| 23–30 years | 39 (28) | 55.7 | 51.2–60.2 | 32 (28) | 55.7 | 50.6–60.9 | 7 (27) | 56.2 | 45.4–67.0 | |||
| Gender | ||||||||||||
| Female | 114 (81) | 52.3 | 49.6–54.9 | 0.779 | 93 (81) | 52.3 | 49.3–55.4 | 0.679 | 21 (81) | 52.0 | 46.1–57.9 | 0.770 |
| Male | 27 (19) | 53.1 | 47.7–58.6 | 22 (19) | 53.8 | 47.5–60.1 | 5 (19) | 50.1 | 37.9-62.2 | |||
| Current academic degree | ||||||||||||
| Undergraduate | 104 (74) | 51.9 | 49.1-54.7 | 0.480 | 84 (73) | 52.1 | 48.9-55.3 | 0.560 | 20 (77) | 50.9 | 44.7-57.0 | 0.633 |
| Postgraduate | 37 (26) | 53.9 | 49.2-58.5 | 31 (27) | 53.9 | 48.7-59.2 | 6 (23) | 54.1 | 42.4-65.8 | |||
| Marital status | ||||||||||||
| Never married | 132 (94) | 52.2 | 49.7-54.6 | 0.403 | 106 (92) | 52.3 | 49.5-55.1 | 0.423 | 26 (100) | 51.6 | 46.4-56.8 | NA 2 |
| Married or other | 9 (6) | 56.3 | 46.9-65.8 | 9 (8) | 56.4 | 46.7-66.2 | 0 (0) | NA | NA | |||
| Current accommodation | ||||||||||||
| Parental home | 83 (59) | 52.4 | 49.3-55.5 | 0.956 | 81 (70) | 52.0 | 48.7-55.2 | 0.469 | 2 (8) | 72.3 | 55.1-89.6 | NP 3 |
| Other than parental home | 58 (41) | 52.5 | 48.8–56.2 | 34 (30) | 54.2 | 49.1–59.2 | 24 (92) | 49.9 | 45.0–54.8 | |||
| Employment status | ||||||||||||
| No employment | 44 (31) | 52.8 | 48.5–57.1 | 0.829 | 28 (24) | 53.2 | 47.6–58.7 | 0.823 | 16 (62) | 52.1 | 45.3–58.9 | 0.821 |
| Employed | 97 (69) | 52.3 | 49.4–55.1 | 87 (76) | 52.4 | 49.3–55.6 | 10 (38) | 50.9 | 42.3–59.5 | |||
| Weekly working hours | ||||||||||||
| Less than 20 h | 77 (79) | 51.3 | 48.1–54.6 | 0.200 | 69 (79) | 51.7 | 48.2–55.1 | 0.343 | 8 (80) | 49.2 | 35.5–62.8 | NP |
| 20 h or more | 20 (21) | 56.0 | 49.6–62.3 | 18 (21) | 55.3 | 48.6–62.0 | 2 (20) | 59.4 | 30.2–88.6 | |||
| Weekly income (AUD) 4 | ||||||||||||
| $500 or less | 98 (74) | 51.1 | 48.2–53.9 | 0.053 | 82 (73) | 51.1 | 47.9–54.2 | 0.071 | 16 (80) | 50.8 | 43.1–58.5 | NP |
| More than $500 | 35 (26) | 56.6 | 51.8–61.4 | 31 (27) | 56.7 | 51.5–61.9 | 4 (20) | 57.8 | 40.3–75.3 | |||
| Changes caused by COVID-19 | ||||||||||||
| Living arrangement 5 | ||||||||||||
| No | 123 (87) | 51.6 | 49.1–54.2 | 0.083 | 104 (90) | 52.3 | 49.4–55.1 | 0.431 | 19 (73) | 48.2 | 42.7–53.8 | 0.024 |
| Yes | 18 (13) | 57.9 | 51.3–64.5 | 11 (10) | 56.0 | 47.1–64.8 | 7 (27) | 60.8 | 51.6–70.0 | |||
| Job changes 6 | ||||||||||||
| No | 84 (60) | 52.1 | 49.0–55.2 | 0.740 | 64 (56) | 52.4 | 48.7–56.1 | 0.864 | 20 (77) | 51.0 | 45.0–57.1 | 0.669 |
| Yes | 57 (40) | 52.9 | 49.1–56.7 | 51 (44) | 52.9 | 48.8–57.0 | 6 (23) | 53.7 | 42.6–64.7 | |||
| Difficulties in finding jobs | ||||||||||||
| No | 98 (70) | 53.9 | 51.0–56.7 | 0.070 | 81 (70) | 54.6 | 51.4–57.7 | 0.028 | 17 (65) | 50.5 | 43.9–57.1 | 0.574 |
| Yes | 43 (30) | 49.1 | 44.8–53.4 | 34 (30) | 48.0 | 43.1–52.9 | 9 (35) | 53.7 | 44.5–62.8 | |||
| Employment income loss | ||||||||||||
| No | 87 (69) | 51.7 | 48.6–54.8 | 0.524 | 69 (65) | 52.0 | 48.5–55.6 | 0.702 | 18 (86) | 50.3 | 43.3–57.4 | NP |
| Yes | 40 (31) | 53.5 | 48.9–58.1 | 37 (35) | 53.2 | 48.3–58.1 | 3 (14) | 57.8 | 40.5–75.2 | |||
| Received any government support payment | ||||||||||||
| No | 81 (59) | 52.3 | 49.1–55.4 | 0.784 | 60 (54) | 52.6 | 48.8–56.4 | 0.931 | 21 (81) | 51.1 | 45.2–57.0 | 0.650 |
| Yes | 57 (41) | 52.9 | 49.2–56.7 | 52 (46) | 52.9 | 48.8–57.0 | 5 (19) | 54.0 | 41.9–66.1 | |||
| Received any support payment from other sources | ||||||||||||
| No | 130 (95) | 52.0 | 49.5–54.5 | 0.352 | 108 (96) | 52.3 | 49.4–55.1 | 0.222 | 22 (92) | 50.8 | 44.9–56.6 | NP |
| Yes | 7 (5) | 57.2 | 46.4–68.0 | 5 (4) | 60.6 | 47.4–73.8 | 2 (8) | 48.6 | 29.2–68.0 | |||
1 Mean scores adjusted for energy intake (EI): basal metabolic rate (BMR) through analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), the potential range of HEIFA-2013 was 0–100; 2 Not applicable; 3 Not enough power; 4 Weekly income, include employment and/or other income; 5 Living arrangement changes, e.g., moved to less expensive premises; 6 Job changes, e.g., lost employment or worked less hours.