Educational mobility and weight gain over 13 years in a longitudinal study of young women

BMC Public Health

Table 3 Baseline weight and weight gain ^* over 13 years by educational mobility ^† in 1973–78 cohort ALSWH women (n = 9 463)**

	% weighted (unweighted)	Model 1 estimate (95% CI)	Model 2 estimate (95% CI)
Baseline weight (kg)		63.15 (62.46, 63.85)	57.85 (56.77, 58.92)
Difference in baseline weight by educational mobility ^†
Stable low	18.9 (21.7)	Reference	Reference
Low-intermediate	9.9 (10.9)	-0.78 (-1.8, 0.27)	-0.78 (-1.78, 0.21)
Stable intermediate	19.8 (20.5)	0.17 (-0.68, 1.02)	0.31 (-0.51, 1.12)
Upgrade to high	12.8 (12.0)	-2.71 (-3.68, -1.75)	-2.13 (-3.07, -1.19)
Stable high	38.6 (34.9)	-2.66 (-3.41, -1.91)	-1.77 (-2.52, -1.02)
Increase per year (kg)		1.12 (1.06, 1.18)	1.45 (1.39, 1.52)
Difference in increase per year by educational mobility ^†
Stable low		Reference	Reference
Low-intermediate		0.04 (-0.09, 0.07)	0.01 (-0.07, 0.08)
Stable intermediate		-0.09 (-0.15, -0.22)	-0.07 (-0.13, -0.002)
Upgrade to high		-0.24 (-0.31, -0.17)	-0.20 (-0.27, -0.13)
Stable high		-0.32 (-0.37, -0.26)	-0.28 (-0.33, -0.22)
Attenuation per year (time x time)		-0.02 (-0.03, -0.02)	-0.05 (-0.06, -0.05)

^*Random effects models (intercept and slope) with weight measured at age 18–23 years, 22–27 years, 25–30 years, 28–33 years and 31–36 years
^†Change in education level from age 22–27 years to age 31–36 years: (Low - higher school certificate or lower (≤12 years), Intermediate - trade/certificate/diploma, High - degree/higher degree). Upgrade to high includes women who had a low (70%) or intermediate (30%) education who later upgraded to a high education.
**Sample slightly smaller than the 9,907 women who had a value for change in education level, due to missing values for some covariates.
Model 1 – baseline centred age, baseline centred height and area of residence.
Model 2 - Model 1 + physical activity, alcohol intake, mental health, self-rated health, number of children, smoking, age at first birth, living arrangement, marital status, health transition, shape dissatisfaction, income management and country of birth.

ISSN: 1471-2458