Ethnic Background and Overweight among 5-Year-Old Children: The “Be Active, Eat Right” Study
Table 1
General characteristics of the total study population and by ethnic background of the child ().
Total ()
Dutch () (reference group)
Moroccan ()
Turkish ()
Surinamese ()
Dutch Antillean ()
Child characteristics
Gender of child
Girl (%)
48.9
48.9
49.3
50.7
46.0
50.0
Age of child (years)
Mean (SD)
5.7 (0.4)
5.7 (0.4)
5.8 (0.5)
5.8 (0.5)
5.9 (0.4)
5.7 (0.5)
Overweight child
Overweight (obesity included) (%)
8.8
8.2
19.1**
27.4**
4.4
17.2**
Characteristics of parent
Gender of responding parent
Woman (%)
89.9
90.9
67.8**
65.1**
83.9**
93.8
Age of parent (years)
Mean (SD)
36.6 (4.5)
36.7 (4.4)
36.1 (6.9)
33.8 (4.8)**
36.7 (5.6)
35.6 (5.9)
Educational level of parent
Low (%)
21.8
20.6
47.7
54.6
23.5
22.6
Mid (%)
45.3
45.4
41.7
36.9
50.7
58.4
High (%)
32.8
33.9
10.6**
8.5**
25.7
29.0
Parental overweight
Overweight (obesity included) (%)a
31.1
29.9
48.0**
56.8**
40.1
48.4**
Family characteristics
Family situation
Two-parent family (%)
93.3
94.1
87.5
91.8
78.1
59.4
Otherwise (%)
6.7
5.9
12.5**
8.2
21.9**
40.6**b
Lifestyle-related behaviors child
Playing outside
≥1 hour/day (%)
83.3
83.8
72.4
76.7
79.6
75.0
<1 hour/day (%)
5.4
5.4
6.6
4.8
9.5
1.6
Missing (%)
11.3
10.8
21.1**
18.5*
10.9
Watching TV
≤2 hours/day (%)
76.7
78.6
39.5
45.9
61.3
54.7
>2 hours/day (%)
16.2
14.9
42.8
37.7
28.5
28.1
Missing (%)
7.1
6.6
17.8**
16.4**
10.2**
Having breakfast
7 days/week (%)
93.5
94.4
87.5
65.1
86.9
87.5
<7 days/week (%)
6.5
5.6
12.5**
34.9**
13.1**
Sweet beverages
≤4/day (%)
84.0
84.4
77.6
84.9
74.5
70.3
>4 day (%)
16.0
15.6
22.4*
15.1
25.5**
29.7**
SD: standard deviation. values are for chi-squared tests (categorical factors) or one-way analysis of variance (continuous factors). , .
aOverweight (obesity included) = BMI ≥ 25 (kg/m2) [3]. value also based on Fisher’s exact test because of small groups.
