Table 1.

Sample characteristics and the prevalence (%) of depressive symptoms and

childhood hunger within categories.

  Sample size With Went to bed hungry as a child

depressiv
(N= 5095) e Never Seldom Sometimes Often
symptoms
  N % % % % % %
Age
25-44 1481 29.1 5.1 94.1 3.6 1.4 0.9
45-64 1505 29.5 8.0 84.3 5.6 7.0 3.1
65-84 2109 41.4 13.8 61.3 9.9 13.7 15.1
Sex
Men 2411 47.3 6.9 74.8 8.4 9.2 7.6
Women 2684 52.7 12.0 80.1 5.4 7.2 7.3
Marital Status
Married/cohabiting 3284 64.5 6.0 79.9 6.5 7.3 6.3
Single 373 7.3 11.0 88.7 4.3 4.3 2.7
Divorced/separated 559 11.0 11.3 79.4 5.9 8.1 6.6
Widowed 879 17.3 21.3 63.3 9.7 13.0 14.1
Ethnicity
Estonian 3335 65.5 7.3 85.6 5.3 5.6 3.5
Russian 1431 28.1 14.4 63.6 9.2 12.6 14.5
Other 329 6.5 11.9 57.1 11.2 14.9 16.7
Education
Tertiary 1067 20.9 6.3 82.2 6.5 6.4 5.0
Upper secondary 2981 58.5 8.0 80.7 6.5 6.9 5.9
Lower secondary or less 1047 20.5 17.3 64.0 8.0 13.7 14.3
Main occupation in lifetime
Non-manual 2836 55.7 8.1 80.8 6.1 7.1 6.1
Manual 2259 44.3 11.3 73.6 7.7 9.6 9.2
Household income quartile
Highest 1188 23.3 3.8 89.3 4.3 3.9 2.5
Next highest 1273 25.0 6.0 81.4 6.0 6.0 6.5
Next lowest 1377 27.0 11.3 70.1 9.1 10.8 10.0
Lowest 1257 24.7 16.6 71.0 7.4 11.5 10.2
Diagnosed chronic diseases ever
No 1654 32.5 4.1 86.3 5.4 5.3 3.1
Yes 3441 67.5 12.2 73.4 7.5 9.6 9.5
Body mass index
Normal 2061 40.5 9.4 79.6 6.8 7.2 6.3
Underweight 88 1.7 12.5 89.8 4.5 5.7 0.0
Overweight 1860 36.5 8.9 76.1 7.2 8.6 8.2
 Obese 1086 21.3 10.8 75.4 6.3 9.4 8.9
Smoking
Never smoked regularly 2877 56.5 10.3 77.5 6.4 8.2 7.9
Ex-smoker 1066 20.9 7.9 74.4 8.1 9.6 8.0
Daily regular 1152 22.6 9.3 80.9 6.6 6.7 5.8
Binge drinking in the past 12 months
Few times per year 675 13.2 4.0 84.3 5.6 5.6 4.4
1-3 times per month 570 11.2 6.1 84.2 6.0 5.4 4.4
1 or more times a week 220 4.3 12.7 77.3 8.2 10.0 4.5
Never in past 12 months 3630 71.2 10.9 75.3 7.1 9.0 8.7
Depressive symptoms
No 46008 90.4 na 79.5 6.7 7.4 6.3
Yes 487 9.6 na 59.3 7.8 15.0 17.9
Went to bed hungry as a child
Never 3954 77.6 7.3 na na na na
Seldom 346 6.8 11.0 na na na na
Sometimes 416 8.2 17.5 na na na na
Often 379 7.4 23.0 na na na na

Table 2. Association between going to bed hungry as a child and depressive symptoms in the past 4
weeks in the 25-84 age group,
men and women cobined.

Model 1 Model 2 Model 3 Model 4 Model 5 Model 6

OR (95% OR (95% OR (95% OR OR (95% OR (95%
Characteristic CI) CI) CI) (95% CI) CI) CI)
Went to bed hungry as a child
Never 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Seldom 1.57 1.43 1.21 1.18 1.18 1.17
(1.09- (0.99- (0.83- (0.81- (0.81- (0.80-
 2.24) 2.06) 1.76) 1.73) 1.73) 1.70)
2.70 2.28 1.89 1.74 1.74 1.73
(2.04- (1.71- (1.39- (1.28- (1.27- (1.27-
Sometimes 3.57) 3.05) 2.57) 2.37) 2.37) 2.37)
3.78 2.91 2.28 2.15 2.07 2.10
(2.89- (2.20- (1.68- (1.58- (1.52- (1.54-
Often 4.94) 3.86) 3.10) 2.93) 2.83) 2.87)
1.02 1.01 1.00 0.99 1.00
(1.01- (1.01- (0.99- (0.99- (0.99-
Age (5-year groups) 1.03) 1.02) 1.01) 1.01) 1.01)
Sex
Men 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.96 1.46 1.49 1.41 1.70
(1.61- (1.18- (1.19- (1.12- (1.29-
Women 2.40) 1.81) 1.87) 1.77) 2.23)
Marital status
Married/cohabiting 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
2.42 2.18 2.26 2.23
(1.67- (1.50- (1.55- (1.52-
Single 3.49) 3.17) 3.30) 3.26)
1.78 1.57 1.58 1.49
(1.31- (1.14- (1.14- (1.08-
Divorced/separated 2.43) 2.16) 2.17) 2.06)
2.66 2.27 2.31 2.25
(2.06- (1.73- (1.76- (1.71-
Widowed 3.45) 2.98) 3.04) 2.96)
Ethnicity
Estonian 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.80 1.77 1.79 1.79
(1.45- (1.42- (1.43- (1.43-
Russian 2.24) 2.21) 2.23) 2.23)
1.35 1.32 1.33 1.34
(0.92- (0.90- (0.91- (0.91-
Other 1.98) 1.94) 1.96) 1.97)
Education
Tertiary 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.07 1.05 1.01
(0.79- (0.77- (0.74-
Upper secondary 1.45) 1.43) 1.38)
1.51 1.51 1.41
(1.05- (1.05- (0.98-
Lower secondary or less 2.18) 2.18) 2.04)
Main occupation in lifetime
Non-manual 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.18 1.18 1.18
(0.94- (0.93- (0.93-
Manual 1.50) 1.49) 1.49)
Household income quartile
Highest 1.00 1.00 1.00
1.21 1.17 1.11
(0.82- (0.79- (0.75-
Next highest 1.78) 1.73) 1.65)
2.02 1.93 1.88
(1.40- (1.33- (1.30-
Next lowest 2.93) 2.80) 2.74)
2.20 2.10 2.01
(1.51- (1.44- (1.38-
Lowest 3.20) 3.07) 2.94)
Diagnosed chronic disease(s)
No 1.00 1.00
2.30 2.38
(1.73- (1.78-
Yes 3.06) 3.17)
Body mass index
Normal 1.00
1.55
(0.78-
Underweight 3.10)
0.82
(0.65-
Overweight 1.04)
0.89
(0.69-
Obese 1.16)
Regular smoking
Never smoked 1.00
1.16
(0.86-
Ex-smoker 1.56)
1.44
(1.08-
Current smoker 1.93)
Binge drinking in the past 12 months
A few times a year 1.00
1.70
(0.99-
1-3 times a month 2.91)
3.63
(2.03-
1 or more times a week 6.51)
1.67
(1.09-
Not in the past 12 months         2.55)
 Model 1 - Unadjusted.
Model 2 - Adjusted for age and sex.
Model 3 - Adjusted for age, sex, marital status and ethnicity.
Model 4 - Adjusted for age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, education, main occupation in lifetime and
household income.
Model 5 - Adjusted for age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, education, main occupation in lifetime,
household income and chronic diseases.
Model 6 - Adjusted for age, sex, marital status, ethnicity, education, main occupation in lifetime,
household income, chronic diseases, body mass index, smoking and binge drinking in the past 12
months.

Table 3. Association between going to bed hungry as a child and depressive symptoms in the
past 4 weeks in the 25–84 age group.

Went to Model 1 Model 2 Model 2a Model 2b Model 2c Model 2d Model 3

hungry as a OR (95% OR (95% OR (95% OR (95% OR (95% OR (95% OR (95%
child CI) CI) CI) CI) CI) CI) CI)
Men
Never 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
2.31 2.11 1.91 2.16 2.12 2.07 1.85
(1.38- (1.26- (1.12- (1.27- (1.25- (1.22- (1.07-
Seldom 3.85) 3.56) 3.26) 3.66) 3.57) 3.50) 3.22)
3.80 3.39 2.86 3.14 3.40 3.29 2.76
(2.48- (2.17- (1.79- (2.00- (2.18- (2.10- (1.70-
Sometimes 5.82) 5.28) 4.58) 4.93) 5.32) 5.16) 4.49)
4.12 3.55 2.93 3.61 3.48 3.46 2.74
(2.63- (2.21- (1.75- (2.22- (2.15- (2.13- (1.60-
Often 6.46) 5.72) 4.90) 5.86) 5.62) 5.61) 4.70)
Women
Never 1.00
1.34 1.06 0.83 0.96 1.05 1.07 0.80
(0.80- (0.63- (0.49- (0.57- (0.62- (0.63- (0.46-
Seldom 2.24) 1.79) 1.42) 1.63) 1.77) 1.80) 1.36)
 2.36 1.77 1.42 1.57 1.73 1.77 1.30
(1.62- (1.20- (0.94- (1.06- (1.18- (1.20- (0.86-
Sometimes 3.45) 2.61) 2.14) 2.33) 2.56) 2.61) 1.97)
3. 85 2.67 2.02 2.39 2.57 2.68 1.86
(2.74- (1.88- (1.38- (1.67- (1.81- (1.88- (1.26-
Often 5.41) 3.80) 2.96) 3.41) 3.67) 3.83) 2.74)
Model 1 –
Unadjusted.
Model 2 –
Adjusted for age.
Model 2a - Adjusted for age, marital status and ethnicity.
Model 2b - Adjusted for age, education, main occupation in lifetime and household income.
Model 2c - Adjusted for age and chronic diseases
Model 2d - Adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking and binge drinking in the past 12 months
Model 3 - Adjusted for age, marital status, ethnicity, education, main lifetime occupation, household
income, chronic diseases, body mass index, smoking and binge drinking in the past 12 months.