Measuring the accuracy of self-reported height and weight in a community-based sample of young people

Table 1 Comparison of participant characteristics and risk behaviours by self-report height and weight status

	Self-reported height and weight		Self-reported height and/or weight missing/unknown		p-value¹
	n	%	n	%
TOTAL	1059	75	346	25
Sex					<0.01
Male	436	82	99	19
Female	623	72	247	28
Median age (IQR)	19.7	(18.0-22.9)	18.3	(17.1-20.7)	<0.01
16-19	558	70	240	30
20-29	501	83	106	17
Post high-school education ²					<0.01
Yes	485	80	122	20
No	561	72	219	28
Lives with parent/s					<0.01
Yes	669	72	266	28
No	369	83	77	17
Lives with partner					<0.01
Yes	125	87	19	13
No	912	74	324	26
Recreational income ³					0.10
<$120 per week	703	74	245	26
≥$120 per week	331	78	92	22
Area of residence ⁴
Major city	697	75	232	25	0.88
Non-major city	316	75	103	25

¹ Chi-square test of proportions, comparing participants with self-reported height and weight to participants with self-reported height or weight missing/unknown.
² Post-high school education defined as having completed or in the process of completing post-high school education.
³ Recreational income defined as money available for spending or saving, not including essential living costs or tax.
⁴ Area of residence classified using Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC).
Remoteness Areas (RA) system, whereby RA 1 is coded major city; RA 2–5 is coded non-major city.
Significant p-values (p<0.05) shown in boldface.
IQR - inter-quartile range

ISSN: 1471-2288