Eating behaviors, dietary patterns and weight status in emerging adulthood and longitudinal associations with eating behaviors in early childhood

Table 1 Characteristics of young adult participants (n = 698)

Characteristics	% (n) or mean ± SD
Sex
Male	34.8 (243)
Female	65.2 (455)
Age	22.2 ± 0.25
Highest level of education (courses)
Secondary school or less	18.9 (132)
College studies	25.8 (180)
University studies	55.3 (386)
Living situation
Living alone	7.7 (54)
Living with parents	47.9 (334)
Living with a partner, with/without children	25.1 (175)
Other situation (incl. combination)	19.3 (135)
BMI^a	25.8 ± 6.0
Weight status^b
Underweight	1.9 (13)
Normal weight	53.9 (376)
Overweight	26.9 (188)
Obese	17.0 (119)
Missing	0.3 (2)
Eating behaviors in early childhood
Fussy eating^c	5.79 ± 1.39
Overeating^d	2.80 [2.20, 3.40]

BMI Body mass index
^a BMI was calculated as kg/m² based on self-reported height and weight - corrected [30]
^b Based on World Health Organization classification of BMI: Underweight (BMI < 18.5), Normal weight (BMI 18.5–24.9); Overweight (BMI 25.0–29.9); Obese (BMI ≥30.0)
^c Range: 3–12
^d Range: 2–8. Overeating presented as median [IQR] since the distribution is not normally distributed

ISSN: 1479-5868