Skip to main content

Table 2 Behavioural characteristics of participating children by sex and type of school a,b

From: Prevalence and correlates of overweight and obesity among school children in an urban district in Ghana

 

Overall

Sex

p-value

School type

p-value

  

Female

Male

 

Private

Public

 

Breakfast

   

0.343

  

0.001

 No

152 (28.0)

95 (28.0)

57 (27.9)

 

59 (21.7)

93 (34.3)

 

 2–3 days/week

93 (17.1)

64 (18.9)

29 (14.2)

 

41 (15.1)

52 (19.2)

 

 3 or more times/week

298 (54.9)

180 (53.1)

118 (57.8)

 

172 (63.2)

126 (46.5)

 

Fruits

   

0.069

  

0.213

 No/rarely

46 (8.5)

23 (6.8)

23 (11.3)

 

19 (7.0)

27 (10.0)

 

 3 or more times/week

497 (91.5)

316 (93.2)

181 (88.7)

 

253 (93.0)

244 (90.0)

 

Vegetables

   

0.084

  

0.808

 No/rarely

68 (12.5)

36 (10.6)

32 (15.7)

 

35 (12.9)

33 (12.2)

 

 3 or more times/week

475 (87.5)

303 (89.4)

172 (84.3)

 

237 (87.1)

238 (87.8)

 

Chips, sweets, chocolates

   

0.107

  

0.009

 No/rarely

199 (36.7)

133 (39.2)

66 (32.4)

 

85 (31.3)

114 (42.1)

 

 3 or more times/week

344 (63.3)

206 (60.8)

138 (67.6)

 

187 (68.7)

157 (57.9)

 

Fried foods

   

0.357

  

< 0.0001

 No

156 (28.7)

109 (32.1)

47 (23.0)

 

89 (32.7)

67 (24.7)

 

 2–3 times/week

124 (22.8)

71 (20.9)

53 (26.0)

 

30 (11.0)

94 (34.7)

 

 More than 3 times/week

263 (48.4)

159 (46.9)

104 (51.0)

 

153 (56.3)

110 (40.6)

 

Sweetened beverages and soft drinks

   

0.787

  

< 0.0001

 No

104 (19.1)

68 (20.1)

36 (17.7)

 

46 (16.9)

58 (21.4)

 

 2–3 times/week

149 (27.4)

92 (27.1)

57 (27.9)

 

55 (20.2)

94 (34.7)

 

 More than 3 times/week

290 (53.4)

179 (52.8)

111 (54.4)

 

171 (62.9)

149 (43.9)

 

Mean physical activity score b

2.56 ± 0.56

2.55 ± 0.54

2.57 ± 0.61

0.652

2.52 ± 0.57

2.60 ± 0.57

0.116

Physical activity level

   

0.388

  

0.995

 Low

91 (16.8)

52 (15.3)

39 (19.1)

 

46 (16.9)

45 (16.6)

 

 Moderate

444 (81.8)

283 (83.5)

161 (78.9)

 

222 (81.6)

222 (81.9)

 

 High

8 (1.4)

4 (1.2)

4 (2.0)

 

4 (1.5)

4 (1.5)

 

Meeting PA guidelines

   

0.065

  

0.006

 No

357 (65.8)

213 (62.8)

144 (70.6)

 

194 (71.3)

163 (60.1)

 

 Yes

186 (34.2)

126 (37.2)

60 (29.4)

 

78 (28.7)

108 (39.9)

 

Transport to and from school

   

0.362

  

< 0.0001

 Walking/cycling

330 (60.8)

201 (59.3)

129 (63.2)

 

138 (50.7)

192 (70.9)

 

 Motorised

213 (39.2)

138 (40.7)

75 (36.8)

 

134 (49.3)

79 (29.1)

 

TV Watch duration

   

0.177

  

0.056

 2 h or less/day

337 (62.1)

203 (59.9)

134 (65.7)

 

158 (58.1)

179 (66.1)

 

 More than 2 h/day

206 (37.9)

136 (40.1)

70 (34.3)

 

114 (41.9)

92 (33.9)

 

Playing video/ computer games

   

0.030

  

0.449

 No/rarely

330 (60.8)

218 (64.3)

112 (54.9)

 

161 (59.2)

169 (62.4)

 

 3 times or more/week

213 (39.2)

121 (35.7)

92 (45.1)

 

111 (40.8)

102 (37.6)

 

Sleep duration

   

0.810

  

0.074

 Less than 9 h

130 (23.9)

80 (23.60)

50 (24.5)

 

74 (27.2)

56 (20.7)

 

 9 h or more

413 (76.1)

259 (76.4)

154 (75.5)

 

198 (72.8)

215 (79.3)

 
  1. aValues presented as number and percentages; bmean (SD)
  2. p < 0.05