Table 1 Description of variables from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children used in the simulation study for respondent i at wave j

Study child’s BMI for age^a

Continuous

z-score

BMIz_ij

Maternal smoking

Categorical

0 = Never-smoker

1 = Ex-smoker

m_smoking_ij

2 = Current-smoker

Maternal depression

Categorical

0 = No

m_depression_ij

1 = Yes

Maternal age at child birth

Continuous

Years

m_age_i

Maternal education

Categorical

0 = Not completed

1 = Completed

m_education_i

Breastfeeding

Categorical

0 = No

1 = Yes

breastfed_i

Family socio-economic status

Continuous

z-score

ses_i

Study child’s sex

Categorical

0 = Female

1 = Male

sex_i

Study child’s birth weight

Continuous

kilograms

birthweight_i

Study child’s age

Continuous

Months

scage_ij