Reading the mind of children in response to food advertising: a cross-sectional study of Malaysian schoolchildren’s attitudes towards food and beverages advertising on television

Table 2 Demographic data of children (n = 402)

Characteristics	n (%)	Mean ± S.D.
Gender
Boys	174 (43.3)	-
Girls	228 (56.7)	-
Ethnic
Malay	154 (38.3)	-
Chinese	125 (31.1)	-
Indian	123 (30.6)	-
Age (year)	402 (100.0)	9.85 ± 1.38
Younger children (≤9 years old)	136 (33.8)	8.22 ± 0.84
Older children (>9 years old)	266 (66.2)	10.7 ± 0.69
Body Mass Index, BMI^a
Severely wasted and wasted (Below −2 Z-score)	44 (10.9)	-
Normal (1 ≤ Z-score ≤ −2)	219 (54.5)	-
Possible risk of overweight (1 < Z-score ≤ 2)	63 (15.7)	-
Overweight and obese (Above 2 Z-score)	76 (18.9)	-
Daily Physical Activity (hrs)	402 (100.0)	1.15 ± 0.68
Less than once weekly	24 (6.0)	0.82 ± 0.50
1–3 times weekly	245 (60.9)	1.03 ± 0.58
4–6 times weekly	78 (19.4)	1.30 ± 0.72
Everyday	55 (13.7)	1.58 ± 0.83
Daily Internet Surfing^b (hrs)	230 (100.0)	1.65 ± 1.58
Daily TV Viewing time (hrs)	402 (100.0)	3.03 ± 1.52
Weekday (hrs)	402 (100.0)	2.35 ± 1.40
Weekend (hrs)	402 (100.0)	4.77 ± 2.60
Television in Bedroom
Yes	84 (20.9)	-
No	318 (79.1)	-
Daily Pocket Money (RM)	402 (100.0)	3.13 ± 1.80

^aCategories were based on Z-score of WHO classification [40]. Two new categories were formed due to very few subjects (severely wasted merged with wasted category; overweight merged with obese category)
^bOnly 260 subjects reported having internet access at home, but only 230 children were allowed online access by parents/ guardians

ISSN: 1471-2458