Identifying eating habits in Finnish children: a cross-sectional study

BMC Public Health

Table 3 Meal patterns, breakfast patterns, and socio-demographic characteristics of unhealthy eaters, fruit and vegetable avoiders, and healthy eaters

		Eating habits group						p-value^a
		Unhealthy eaters		Fruit and vegetable avoiders		Healthy eaters
		n	%	n	%	n	%
Meal (lunch/ dinner) pattern	Irregular	413	31.8%	1294	28.1%	861	18.5%	< 0.001
Meal (lunch/ dinner) pattern	Regular	885	68.2%	3316	71.9%	3800	81.5%	< 0.001
Breakfast pattern	Irregular	318	24.5%	1049	22.8%	639	13.7%	< 0.001
Breakfast pattern	Regular	980	75.5%	3561	77.2%	4022	86.3%	< 0.001
Gender	Girl	500	38.5%	2289	49.7%	2775	59.5%	< 0.001
Gender	Boy	798	61.5%	2321	50.3%	1886	40.5%	< 0.001
Age	< 11 years	432	33.3%	1303	28.3%	1184	25.4%	< 0.001
	11 years	728	56.1%	2780	60.3%	2949	63.3%
	> 11 years	138	10.6%	527	11.4%	528	11.3%
Language spoken at home	Finnish	1182	91.1%	4324	93.8%	4344	93.2%	< 0.001
	Swedish	52	4.0%	185	4.0%	208	4.5%
	Others	64	4.9%	101	2.2%	109	2.3%
Parental education level^b	Low	343	55.0%	1218	50.1%	948	37.7%	< 0.001
Parental education level^b	High	281	45.0%	1215	49.9%	1567	62.3%	< 0.001

^aresults for Chi-square test
^banything until technical high school was categorized as low education level; anything higher was classified as high education level

ISSN: 1471-2458