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Table 1 Summary of questions and mean intake scores from Child Nutrition Questionnaire

From: Describing socioeconomic gradients in children’s diets – does the socioeconomic indicator used matter?

Scale

Items

Response

Score range

Target healthy value#

Boys (n = 275) Mean (SD)

Girls (n = 353) Mean (SD)

Fruit intake (3-items)

(1) Consumption of fruit at recess/lunch/after school, (2) Variety of fruits consumed yesterday, (3) Usual serves of fruit per day

(1–2) Tick if consumed; (3) Frequency scalea

0 - 16

≥ 6

5.44 (2.92)

5.35 (2.62)

Vegetable intake (3-items)

(1) Consumption of vegetables at recess/lunch/after school, (2) variety of vegetables consumed yesterday, (3) usual serves of vegetables per day

(1–2) Tick if consumed; (3) Frequency scalea

0 - 13

≥ 8

4.72 (2.40)

4.71 (2.40)

Non-core food intake (2-items)

(1) Consumption of 11 non-core foods at recess/lunch/after school, (2) No. times/week non-core foods consumedd

(1) Tick if consumed; (2) Frequency scaleb

0 - 33

≤ 1

3.56 (2.33)

3.69 (1.91)

Sweet drink intake (2-items)

(1) Consumption of sweet drinks (incl. juice) at recess/lunch/after school, (2) No. times/week sweet drinks consumed

(1) Tick if consumed; (2) Frequency scaleb

0 - 14

≤ 1.3

1.75 (1.35)

1.67 (1.27)

Healthy behaviours (5-items)

No. times p/week: (1) Eat breakfast, (2) Carry water bottle, (3) Help with groceries, (4) Help prepare dinner, (5) Eat dinner with family

Frequency scalec

4 - 20

n/a

17.42* (3.57)

18.42* (3.68)

Unhealthy behaviours (3-items)

No. times p/week: (1) Eat dinner in front of TV, (2) Eat snacks in front of TV, (3) Eat fast food

Frequency scalec

3 - 15

n/a

7.64 (2.84)

7.68 (2.58)

  1. *p = 0.001 for difference in dietary intake scores between boys and girls.
  2. #Target healthy values established by Wilson et al. 2008 [27].
  3. aFrequency scale (scoring in parentheses): I don’t eat fruit/vegetables (0.0), less than 1 serve per day (0.5), 1–2 serves per day (1.5), 3–5 serves per day (4.0), and more than 5 serves per day (6.0).
  4. bFrequency scale (Weighted for daily consumption by dividing weekly score by seven - shown in parentheses): never/rarely (0.0), less than once/week (0.07), about 1–3 times per week (0.29), about 4–6 times per week (0.71), every day (1.00).
  5. cFrequency scale: never/rarely, less than once/week, about 1–3 times per week, about 4–6 times per week, every day; scored 1–5 respectively.
  6. d(1) 11 non-core food items measured were: potato crisps, chocolate, lollies, muesli bar, savoury biscuits, sweet biscuits, ice-cream/ice-block, hot chips, pie/pasty/sausage roll, hot dog, pizza; (2) Non-core foods consumed were: chocolate/lollies, potato crisps, hot chips.