Table 1 Characteristics of Malawian urban adolescents and adults according to sex
From: A comparison of the associations between adiposity and lipids in Malawi and the United Kingdom
| Adolescents | Adults | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Females n = 774 (62.0%) | Males n = 474 (38.0%) | Females n = 1487 (65.3%) | Males n = 790 (34.7%) | |
| Age—mean (SD) | 18.7 (0.5) | 18.7 (0.5) | 47.8 (5.8) | 53.4 (7.8) |
| Ethnicity—N(%) | ||||
| Chewa | 285 (36.8) | 171 (35.9) | 513 (34.5) | 282 (35.7) |
| Tumbuka | 104 (13.4) | 64 (13.5) | 197 (13.3) | 98 (12.4) |
| Ngoni | 139 (18.0) | 91 (19.3) | 317 (21.3) | 137 (17.3) |
| Yao | 57 (7.4) | 28 (5.9) | 118 (7.9) | 71 (9.0) |
| Lomwe | 116 (15.0) | 87 (18.4) | 170 (11.4) | 96 (12.2) |
| Nkonde | 10 (1.3) | 6 (1.3) | 21 (1.4) | 12 (1.5) |
| Other | 63 (8.1) | 27 (5.7) | 151 (10.2) | 94 (11.9) |
| Education—N(%) | ||||
| No formal | 10 (1.3) | 2 (0.4) | 149 (10.0) | 23 (2.9) |
| Primary (1–5 years) | 32 (4.1) | 10 (2.1) | 219 (14.7) | 61 (7.7) |
| Primary (6–8 years) | 121 (15.6) | 65 (13.8) | 492 (33.1) | 187 (23.7) |
| Secondary (9–12 years) | 549 (70.9) | 368 (77.6) | 435 (29.3) | 325 (41.1) |
| Tertiary (12+ years) | 62 (8.0) | 29 (6.1) | 192 (12.9) | 194 (24.6) |
| Quintiles of household assets score—median (IQR) | ||||
| 1 (most deprived) | 62.5 (49.0) | 70.5 (41.5) | 70.5 (41) | 70.5 (43) |
| 2 | 205.5 (35.0) | 205.5 (12) | 205.5 (51.5) | 205.5 (43) |
| 3 | 325.5 (196.5) | 325.5 (145) | 325.5 (192) | 325.5 (185) |
| 4 | 520.5 (27.0) | 520.5 (35) | 524.7 (35) | 525.5 (35) |
| 5 (least deprived) | 2520.5 (35.0) | 2520.5 (35) | 2523.3 (35) | 2535.5 (35)) |
| Marital status—N(%) | ||||
| Never married | 626 (80.9) | 471 (99.4) | 21 (1.4) | 15 (1.9) |
| Married | 134 (17.3) | 3 (0.6) | 1048 (70.5) | 717 (90.8) |
| Widowed | 2 (0.3) | 0 | 277 (18.6) | 28 (3.5) |
| Divorced | 12 (1.5) | 0 | 141 (9.5) | 30 (3.8) |
| Parity—N(%) | ||||
| 0 | 594 (76.7) | NA | 19 (1.3) | NA |
| 1 | 167 (21.6) | NA | 55 (3.7) | NA |
| 2 | 9 (1.2) | NA | 103 (6.9) | NA |
| 3 | 1 (0.1) | NA | 154 (10.4) | NA |
| 4+ | 3 (0.4) | NA | 1156 (77.7) | NA |
| Smoking status—N(%) | ||||
| Non-smoker | 772 (99.8) | 443 (93.5) | 1481 (99.6) | 644 (81.5) |
| Former smoker | 1 (0.1) | 20 (4.2) | 4 (0.3) | 72 (9.1) |
| Current smoker | 1 (0.1) | 11 (2.3) | 2 (0.1) | 74 (9.4) |
| Alcohol intake—N(%) | ||||
| Never | 737 (95.2) | 359 (75.7) | 1419 (95.4) | 561 (71.0) |
| < 1 day/month | 26 (3.4) | 47 (9.9) | 35 (2.4) | 62 (7.9) |
| 1–3 days/month | 6 (0.8) | 43 (9.1) | 23 (1.5) | 73 (9.2) |
| 1–4 days/week | 4 (0.5) | 18 (3.8) | 6 (0.4) | 68 (8.6) |
| 5+ days/week | 1 (0.1) | 7 (1.5) | 4 (0.3) | 26 (3.3) |
| Physical activity levela—N(%) | ||||
| Low | 4 (0.5) | 1 (0.2) | 24 (1.6) | 79 (10.0) |
| Moderate | 14 (1.8) | 31 (6.5) | 79 (5.3) | 175 (22.1) |
| High | 756 (97.7) | 442 (93.3) | 1384 (93.1) | 536 (67.9) |
| Lipid-lowering medication—N(%) | ||||
| No raised cholesterol | 774 (100.0) | 474 (100.0) | 1470 (98.9) | 781 (98.9) |
| Raised cholesterol, no medication | 0 | 0 | 12 (0.8) | 8 (1.0) |
| Raised cholesterol, taking medication | 0 | 0 | 5 (0.3) | 1 (0.1) |
| HIV status—N(%) | ||||
| HIV negative | 695 (97.3) | 389 (98.7) | 1075 (78.1) | 582 (84.1) |
| HIV positive | 19 (2.7) | 5 (1.3) | 301 (21.9) | 110 (15.9) |