Eating Behavior And The Influence Factors Of Children In Hangzhou City

[Objective]To investigate the nutrition status and eating behaviors of preschool children in Hangzhou city,exploring the relative contributions of malnutrition and obesity,as to provide the theoretical evidence for intervening.[Method]With cluster sampling,655 preschool children from 8 representative kindergartens in Hangzhou urban area were selected.Questionnaires were used to collect the data including physical information,eating behavior and family environment. Methods of modern multivariate analysis such as logistic regression were applied to identify the relative contributions of malnutrition and obesity.[Result]The prevalence of wasting,underweight,stunting and obesity was 3.27%, 1.09%,0.62%,9.03%.The primary feeding pattern was breast feeding,about 41.7% children were breastfed without other foods before 4 months.55.3%of children were looked after by parents.The feeding knowledge of mothers was mainly obtained by books and internet,but only 58.6%of parents had the right attitudes to feeding.The food eaten by children more frequently was listed as rice,egg,vegetables and fruits. Only 55.5%of children were not picky eaters,and 97.5%of children were snack eaters. The most popular snacks were fruits(62.0%).66.4%of children had good eating behaviors,52.4%of them performed better in kindergarten than at home.Parents paid more attention to children's height than weight.For the food children refused, controlling feeding practices were used by parents.And the higher anxiety level the parents had,the more controlling feeding practices they used.Children's weight was primary correlated with father's BMI,feeding pattern,main foster,foster's educational background,the children's appetite,eating behavior,rhythm and speed,the anxiety of parents.Children's height was primary related by feeding pattern,the children's appetite, eating rhythm and speed,the anxiety of parents.The main factors which result in obesity are children's appetite,the anxiety of parents,parents' attitude to feeding, father's BMI.The main factors contribute to malnutrition are father's educational background,the fiequency of eating meat,kind of snacks,appetite and mother's occupation.[Conclusion]The prevalence of malnutrition is lower but the obesity rate is higher.It is important to educate parents to have a right attitude to feeding,in order to improve the eating behavior of children and reduce the rate of malnutrition and obesity.