Skip to main content

Table 1 Characteristics of Participants (children: n = 2227 in May; guardians: n = 2085 in May)

From: A school-based nutrition education program involving children and their guardians in Japan: facilitation of guardian-child communication and reduction of nutrition knowledge disparity

 

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

  1. b/w Between, F February, M May, NK score Nutrition knowledge score, O October, SES Socioeconomic status, y/o Years old
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. c NK score is the percentage (%) of correct answers (regarded as nutrition knowledge level) in the nutrition knowledge questionnaires
  5. 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)
  6. 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