Descriptive characteristics of participants across all four waves
| Variables | Wave 2007 n=7701 | Wave 2009 n=8083 | Wave 2013 n=10 779 | Wave 2017 n=11 456 |
| Median (p25, p75)* (n) | Median (p25, p75)* (n) | Median (p25, p75)* (n) | Median (p25, p75)* (n) | |
| Weekly frequency of oohf purchasing for breakfast | 0.00 (0.00, 0.00) (n=7701) | 0.00 (0.00, 0.00) (n=8083) | 0.00 (0.00, 0.00) (n=10 779) | 0.00 (0.00, 0.00) (n=11 456) |
| Weekly frequency of oohf purchasing for lunch | 1.00 (0.00, 3.00) (n=7701) | 1.00 (0.00, 2.00) (n=8081) | 1.00 (0.00, 2.00) (n=10 777) | 1.00 (0.00, 2.00) (n=11 452) |
| Weekly frequency of oohf purchasing for dinner | 1.00 (0.00, 2.00) (n=7701) | 1.00 (0.00, 1.00) (n=8080) | 1.00 (0.00, 1.00) (n=10 777) | 1.00 (0.00, 1.00) (n=11 452) |
| Total weekly frequency of oohf purchasing (breakfast, lunch and dinner) | 2.00 (1.00, 4.00) (n=7701) | 2.00 (1.00, 4.00) (n=8077) | 2.00 (1.00, 4.00) (n=10 774) | 2.00 (1.00, 4.00) (n=11 451) |
| Average daily fruit servings | 1.00 (0.43, 2.00) (n=7701) | 1.00 (0.43, 2.00) (n=8081) | 1.00 (0.43, 2.00) (n=10 777) | 1.00 (0.43, 2.00) (n=11 451) |
| Average daily vegetable servings | 2.00 (1.43, 3.00) (n=7700) | 2.00 (1.29, 3.00) (n=8080) | 2.00 (1.29, 3.00) (n=10 776) | 2.00 (1.29, 3.00) (n=11 452) |
| Weekly work hours | 38.00 (19.00, 44.00) (n=7582) | 38.00 (15.00, 42.00) (n=7905) | 37.00 (15.00, 40.00) (n=10 601) | 37.00 (15.00, 40.00) (n=11 236) |
| Weekly commute hours | 2.00 (0.50, 5.00) (n=7393) | 2.00 (0.50, 5.00) (n=7770) | 2.00 (0.50, 5.00) (n=10 445) | 2.00 (0.50, 5.00) (n=11 061) |
| Combined weekly work and commute hours | 40.50 (20.50, 50.00) (n=7379) | 40.00 (18.00, 48.00) (n=7747) | 40.00 (16.00, 48.00) (n=10 439) | 40.00 (17.00, 48.00) (n=11 040) |
| Age (years) | 39.00 (26.00, 49.00) (n=7701) | 39.00 (26.00, 50.00) (n=8083) | 40.00 (27.00, 53.00) (n=10 779) | 42.00 (29.00, 55.00) (n=11 456) |
| n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | n (%) | |
| Categorical work hours | ||||
| Not working (0 hours) | 787 (10.2) | 1046 (12.9) | 1635 (15.2) | 1701 (14.8) |
| Working up to full-time (1–38 hours/week) | 3447 (44.8) | 3559 (44.0) | 4795 (44.5) | 5107 (44.6) |
| Working overtime (>38 hours/week) | 3348 (43.5) | 3300 (40.8) | 4171 (38.7) | 4428 (38.7) |
| Missing | 119 (1.5) | 178 (2.2) | 178 (1.7) | 220 (1.9) |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 3824 (49.7) | 4059 (50.2) | 5358 (49.7) | 5722 (49.9) |
| Female | 3877 (50.3) | 4024 (49.8) | 5421 (50.3) | 5734 (50.1) |
| Education | ||||
| No tertiary education | 5739 (74.5) | 5952 (73.6) | 7601 (70.5) | 7772 (67.8) |
| Tertiary education | 1961 (25.5) | 2128 (26.3) | 3174 (29.4) | 3681 (32.1) |
| Missing | 1 (<1) | 3 (<1) | 4 (<1) | 3 (<1) |
| Household composition | ||||
| Single person† | 952 (12.4) | 1035 (12.8) | 1409 (13.1) | 1614 (14.1) |
| Single parent‡ | 131 (1.7) | 139 (1.7) | 169 (1.6) | 190 (1.7) |
| Multi-person without children§ | 3780 (49.1) | 4246 (52.5) | 5799 (53.8) | 6236 (54.4) |
| Multi-person with children¶ | 2838 (36.9) | 2663 (32.9) | 3402 (31.6) | 3416 (29.8) |
| Remoteness | ||||
| Major cities of Australia | 5150 (66.9) | 5428 (67.2) | 7548 (70.0) | 7857 (68.6) |
| Inner regional Australia | 1614 (21.0) | 1707 (21.1) | 2110 (19.6) | 2405 (21.0) |
| Outer regional Australia | 799 (10.4) | 791 (9.8) | 978 (9.1) | 1045 (9.1) |
| Remote or very remote Australia | 138 (1.8) | 157 (1.9) | 142 (1.3) | 147 (1.3) |
| Missing | 1 (<1) | 2 (<1) | ||
| Neighbourhood SES | ||||
| Lowest decile | 543 (7.1) | 561 (6.9) | 768 (7.1) | 889 (7.8) |
| 2nd decile | 677 (8.8) | 701 (8.7) | 1011 (9.4) | 1011 (8.8) |
| 3rd decile | 749 (9.7) | 802 (9.9) | 987 (9.2) | 1072 (9.4) |
| 4th decile | 715 (9.3) | 738 (9.1) | 980 (9.1) | 1102 (9.6) |
| 5th decile | 771 (10.0) | 851 (10.5) | 1139 (10.6) | 1244 (10.9) |
| 6th decile | 750 (9.7) | 819 (10.1) | 1158 (10.7) | 1150 (10.0) |
| 7th decile | 798 (10.4) | 846 (10.5) | 1115 (10.3) | 1227 (10.7) |
| 8th decile | 821 (10.7) | 899 (11.1) | 1197 (11.1) | 1246 (10.9) |
| 9th decile | 970 (12.6) | 928 (11.5) | 1159 (10.8) | 1194 (10.4) |
| Highest decile | 907 (11.8) | 936 (11.6) | 1261 (11.7) | 1316 (11.5) |
| Missing | 2 (<1) | 4 (<1) | 5 (<1) | |
| Work schedule | ||||
| Regular daytime schedule | 5120 (66.5) | 5177 (64.0) | 6747 (62.6) | 7269 (63.5) |
| Other** | 1676 (21.8) | 1714 (21.2) | 2188 (20.3) | 2274 (19.8) |
| Missing | 905 (11.8) | 1192 (14.7) | 1844 (17.1) | 1913 (16.7) |
*25th percentile, 75th percentile.
†Single person: one person aged >15 years, no children <15 years.
‡Single parent: one person aged >15 years, at least one child <15 years.
§Multi-person without children: two or more people aged >15 years, no children <15 years.
¶Multi-person with children: two or more people aged >15 years, at least one child <15 years.
**Other: evening shift, night shift, rotating shift, split shift, on call, irregular schedule or other.
oohf, out-of-home food; SES, socioeconomic status.