Table 2 Descriptive characteristics of participants

n

6871

3077

3794

3271

3600

Age, mean,¹ years

15.6 (1.37)

15.8 (1.48)

15.4 (1.24)

<0.001

15.6 (1.4)

15.6 (1.4)

NS

Weight, mean, Kg

56.5 (13.8)

63.0 (12.2)

51.2 (12.2)

<0.001

57.9 (14.2)

55.2 (13.2)

<0.001

Height, mean, m

163.2 (8.53)

165.6 (7.83)

161.2 (8.5)

<0.001

167.6 (8.39)

159.1 (6.4)

<0.001

BMI, mean, kg/m²

21.1 (4.28)

22.9 (3.75)

19.6 (4.12)

<0.001

20.4 (4.04)

21.7 (4.41)

<0.001

BMI-z scores mean

−0.02 (1.37)

0.63 (0.97)

−0.55 (1.42)

<0.001

−0.21 (1.42)

0.15 (1.31)

<0.001

Weight status (4 categories) ⁶

<0.001

<0.001

Thin (%)

8.3 (7.6, 8.9)

0.45 (0.22, 0.69)

14.5 (13.5, 15.7)

11.4 (10.3, 12.5)

5.44 (4.7,6.2)

Normal weight (%)

67.9 (66.8,69.0)

65.1 (63.4, 66.9)

70.1 (68.7, 71.6)

69.1 (67.5, 70.7)

66.8 (65.3, 68.7)

Overweight (%)

17.6 (16.7, 18.5)

26.9 (25.3, 28,4)

10.1 (9.1, 11.0)

13.9 (12.7, 15.1)

21.0 (19.4, 22.3)

Obese (%)

6.2 (5.7, 6.8)

7.5 (6.6, 8.5)

5.2 (4.5, 5.9)

5.7 (4.9, 6.4)

6.8 (6.0, 7.6)

Weight status (2 categories) ⁶

<0.001

<0.001

Normal/Thin

76.2 (75.1, 77.20)

65.6 (63.9, 67.3)

84.7 (83.6, 85.9)

80.5 (79.1, 81.8)

72.3 (70.8, 73.7)

Overweight/Obese

23.8 (22.8, 24.9)

34.4 (32.7, 36.1)

15.3 (14.1, 16.4)

19.5 (18.2, 20.9)

27.7 (26.3, 29.2)