Table 2 Baseline characteristics of the study schoolchildren

Gender, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a

 Boys

297 (52.8)

253 (52.5)

0.007

0.932

 Girls

266 (47.2)

229 (47.5)

Location, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a

 Urban

324 (57.5)

295 (61.2)

1.436

0.231

 Rural

239 (42.5)

187 (38.8)

Age group, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a

 9 years old

193 (34.3)

157 (32.6)

0.476

0.788

 10 years old

218 (38.7)

187 (38.8)

 11 years old

152 (27.0)

138 (28.6)

Ethnicity, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a***

 Malay

433 (76.9)

434 (90.0)

31.688

< 0.001***

 Non-Malay^c

130 (23.1)

48 (10.0)

School category, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a***

 National school (Malay)

435 (77.3)

440 (91.3)

37.481

< 0.001***

 National school (Chinese and Tamil)

128 (22.7)

42 (8.7)

BMI category, \({\varvec{n}}\) (%)^a

 Overweight

222 (39.4)

179 (37.1)

2.400

0.301

 Obese

243 (43.2)

201 (41.7)

 Morbidly obese

98 (17.4)

102 (21.2)

Anthropometric status, mean (SD)^b

 Body weight (kg)

46.14 (10.64)

46.91 (10.88)

0.250

 Body height (cm)

139.12 (7.78)

138.92 (7.46)

0.670

 BMI for age\(z\)-score

2.30 (0.84)

2.37 (0.90)

0.160

 Skeletal muscle mass (kg)

14.68 (2.93)

14.73 (2.90)

0.762

 Body fat mass (kg)

17.85 (6.75)

18.68 (6.88)

0.050

 Percentage body fat (%)

37.73 (6.52)

38.75 (6.51)

0.070