Table 2 Baseline characteristics of participants recruited using active vs passive methods

Number of families

43 (37.4 %)

72 (62.6 %)

0.007

Number of parents/carers

52 (38.0 %)

85 (62.0 %)

0.005

Number of children

46 (35.9 %)

82 (64.1 %)

0.002

Gender of children

0.616

 Boys

24 (52.2 %)

39 (47.6 %)

 Girls

22 (47.8 %)

43 (52.4 %)

Mean age of child (years) (SD)

9.91 (1.61)

9.18 (1.52)

0.012

Mean age of parent/carer (years) (SD)

39.59 (7.19)

40.46 (7.86)

0.517

Family type^a

0.162

 Two-parent family

20 (46.5 %)

40 (55.6 %)

 Single parent (mother)

22 (51.2 %)

24 (33.3 %)

 Single parent (father)

0 (0 %)

0 (0 %)

 Step-family

1 (2.3 %)

6 (8.3 %)

 Other (e.g. living with other relative)

0 (0 %)

2 (2.8 %)

Child ethnicity^a

0.002

 White

24 (52.2 %)

55 (67.1 %)

 Black

0 (0 %)

10 (12.2 %)

 Asian

13 (28.3 %)

9 (11.0 %)

 Chinese

0 (0 %)

0 (0 %)

 Mixed

9 (19.5 %)

7 (8.5 %)

 Other

0 (0 %)

1 (1.2 %)

Baseline mean (SD) BMI of child

27.02 (4.56)

25.21 (4.13)

0.024

Baseline BMI z-score (SD) of child

2.80 (0.85)

2.66 (0.81)

0.273

Baseline mean (SD) BMI of parent/carer

30.19 (5.93)

33.01 (8.51)

0.026

Socio-economic status n (%)

0.361

 Class 1 (higher managerial, administrative and professional occupations)

14 (32.5 %)

25 (34.7 %)

 Class 2 (intermediate occupations)

9 (20.9 %)

10 (13.9 %)

 Class 3 (routine and manual occupations)

10 (23.3 %)

26 (36.1 %)

 Class 4 (never worked)

10 (23.3 %)

11 (15.3 %)

Families for Health Attendance (n = 56)

 DNA^a

3 (16.7 %)

11 (29.0 %)

0.169

 Attended at least one session^a

15 (83.3 %)

27 (71.0 %)

0.169

 Completed (at least half)

12 (66.7 %)

23 (60.5 %)

0.658

 Completed (all sessions available)^a

3 (16.67 %)

8 (21.1 %)

0.268

Usual care attendance (n = 59)^b

 DNA

13 (61.9 %)

15 (48.4 %)

0.337

 Attended at least one session

8 (38.1 %)

16 (51.6 %)

0.336