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Table 2 Frequency of snacking among adolescents in eight snacking contexts according to year level, gender and region

From: Snacking behaviours of adolescents and their association with skipping meals

Snacking context M (± SD) snacking/weeka Total % Year level % Gender % Region %
n= 3250    7 9   Male Female   Metro Non-Metro
After school 4.6 (± 2.4)           **
    not in last month   4 4 3   4 3   4 3  
    once/twice a month   7 8 7   8 7   8 5  
    once/twice a week   14 14 14   14 14   15 13  
    most days   41 39 43   39 43   40 42  
    every day   34 35 33   35 33   33 37  
While watching TV 3.5 (± 2.5)           **
    not in last month   7 8 6   9 6   7 9  
    once/twice a month   12 12 11   12 12   12 12  
    once/twice a week   26 25 28   24 27   24 29  
    most days   39 39 39   38 39   40 35  
    every day   16 16 16   17 15   17 15  
While hanging out with friends 2.4 (± 2.5)     **    **    
    not in last month   14 16 11   17 12   15 13  
    once/twice a month   25 24 27   24 27   25 25  
    once/twice a week   24 22 27   24 24   23 26  
    most days   27 27 26   25 27   27 25  
    every day   10 11 9   10 10   10 11  
While doing homework or working 1.8 (± 2.3)        **    *
    not in last month   29 30 28   36 24   30 28  
    once/twice a month   20 19 21   19 21   19 21  
    once/twice a week   23 23 24   20 26   22 26  
    most days   22 22 21   19 24   23 19  
    every day   6 6 6   6 5   6 6  
On the run 1.3 (± 2.0)        **    
    not in last month   28 30 25   31 25   29 26  
    once/twice a month   30 30 31   28 32   30 31  
    once/twice a week   24 23 26   22 26   23 26  
    most days   14 14 15   14 14   14 14  
    every day   4 4 4   5 3   4 4  
On the way to or from school 1.0 (± 2.0)        *    
    not in last month   57 56 59   56 57   57 56  
    once/twice a month   17 17 17   17 17   17 17  
    once/twice a week   12 13 11   11 13   12 13  
    most days   10 10 8   10 10   10 9  
    every day   4 4 5   6 3   4 5  
All day long 0.8 (± 1.8)     **       
    not in last month   63 67 56   63 63   62 65  
    once/twice a month   16 14 20   15 16   16 16  
    once/twice a week   10 9 12   10 11   11 10  
    most days   8 7 8   8 7   8 6  
    every day   3 3 4   4 3   3 3  
In middle of night 0.4 (± 1.4)        **    **
    not in last month   80 81 78   75 84   77 85  
    once/twice a month   9 9 10   10 9   11 6  
    once/twice a week   5 4 5   6 3   5 4  
    most days   4 4 4   5 3   4 3  
    every day   2 2 3   4 1   3 2  
  1. Snacks are defined as foods and/or drinks that are consumed outside the main meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
  2. a Mean (± SD) times per week adolescents (n = 3,250) snacked in each snacking context.
  3. * p ≤ 0.01, ** p ≤ 0.001. Pearson's chi square test of significance.
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International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

ISSN: 1479-5868

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