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Table 1 Socio-demographic characteristics of school age children and their caregivers/mothers

From: Lipid profile and dyslipidemia among school-age children in urban Ghana

 

Normal-weight

(n = 409)

Percent

Overweight/obese1

(n = 393)

Percent

P-value2

Child Characteristics

Age (years)

12.2 ± 1.6

 

12.1 ± 1.6

 

0.15

BMI-for-age z score

−0.1 ± 0.6

 

1.9 ± 0.7

 

< 0.01

Female sex n(%)

257

62.8

265

67.4

0.143

Attending public school, n(%)

140

58.6

99

41.4

0.057

Maternal/Caregiver Characteristics3

Age (completed years)

40.7 ± 9.1

 

41.3 ± 9.3

 

0.49

Education (years)

9.6 ± 4.3

 

10.5 ± 4.4

 

0.01

Occupation4 (%)

    

017

Professional

39

13.1

58

18.9

 

Office worker

8

2.7

10

3.3

 

Artisan

38

12.7

44

14.4

 

Trading

196

65.8

172

56.2

 

Unemployed

17

5.7

22

7.2

 

Socioeconomic status5 (%)

    

0.17

Low

121

41.4

100

33.9

 

Medium

133

45.6

153

51.9

 

High

38

13.1

42

14.2

 
  1. Values are presented as mean ± SD or n (%)
  2. 1Defined as BMI-for-age Z-score > 1
  3. 2Based on Student's t-test for means or Chi-Square test for proportions
  4. 3Total of 198 missing data (normal-weight = 111, overweight/obese = 87)
  5. 4Professionals included teachers, lawyers, doctors, and accountants, etc. Office workers included secretaries and office clerks
  6. 5SES score was determined based on summed scores of household income, ownership of vehicle, mother and father’s educational level. Scores were classified as follows: 0–1 = low, 2–4 = medium, and 5–6 = high socioeconomic status
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BMC Public Health

ISSN: 1471-2458

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