| Objectives This study aimed to investigate the nutritional status,nutrition knowledge level,and diet behavior of middle school students in the Yongning county,Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,and to analyze the relevant influencing factors,to provide a theoretical basis and formulate effective nutrition intervention policies in improving the nutritional status of local middle school students.Methods A total of 1,091 middle school students in three middle schools in Yongning were selected for physical measurements and questionnaire survey.A questionnaire was used to investigate nutritional status,nutrition knowledge and diet behavior of students.Body mass index(BMI)was used to evaluate nutritional status and Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze influencing factors.EpiData3.1 software was used to enter,clean and check the data before analysis.Data analysis were performed with SPSS,version 20.0.The data were analyzed using t test,f test and x~2 test.Associations were evaluated by logistic regression analysis.statistical significance was set at P<0.05.Results1.The detection rates for malnutrition,normal and OWB were 13.75%,77.18%and 9.07%,respectively.The malnutrition and OWB rates of male participants(16.67%,14.23%)were significantly higher than that of female participants(11.35%,4.84%),(P<0.05),while the normal nutrition rate of female participants(83.81%)was significantly higher than male participants(69.11%),(P<0.01).The OWB rate of the single child(13.70%)was significantly higher than those with siblings(7.55%),(P<0.01).The malnutrition was significantly associated with sex,mother's occupation,family history of obesity.Moreover,the OWB was significantly associated with sex,siblings,family monthly income,and family history of obesity.2.The nutritional knowledge average score of 5.82±2.09.The mean nutritional knowledge scores of female participants was significantly higher than those of male participants(P<0.01).The mean nutritional knowledge scores of students aged 16-18 was significantly higher than students aged 12-15(P<0.01),The mean nutritional knowledge scores of resident students was significantly higher than non-resident students(P<0.01),The mean nutritional knowledge scores of single child was significantly higher than those with siblings(P<0.01).Gender,age,accommodation,monthly family income and mother's education level were the influencing factors of middle school students'nutrition knowledge score.3.Only 91 of them(8.34%)had a high level of nutrition knowledge.Half of these students(51.97%)had a medium level of nutrition knowledge.39.69%had a low level of nutrition knowledge.The majority of the school students(78.28%)knew that Ca can promote bone and tooth development,and the highest nutrient in tofu is protein(82.49%).A majority of the school students(79.01%)knew that anemia may be caused by a chronic lack of Fe in the body.However,most of these students were not aware that the appropriate amount of salt that teenagers consume every day should be?6 g(33.73%),and only 28.23%of the school students were aware that carbonated drinks are bad for our health.Schools,families and the Internet are the main ways for middle school students to gain nutrition knowledge.4.Healthy diet behaviors,only 39.60%of the school students eat breakfast every day,the proportion of students who always drink milk,eat fresh fruits and vegetables is 15.12%,18.15%and 41.80%,respectively.The proportion of students aged 16-18 who eat breakfast every day and often eat fresh vegetables is significantly higher(44.75%,47.22%)than that of students aged12-15(37.42%,39.50%),(P<0.05).The proportion of non-resident students who often drink milk,eat fresh fruit and vegetables is significantly higher(19.33%,25.88%,46.65%)than that of resident students(9.46%,7.74%,35.27%),(P<0.01).For unhealthy diet behaviors,41.43%of the students were picky about food,and nearly one third of them(29.33%)were not on time for three meals,some students even often eat desserts and drink carbonated drinks.The proportion of students aged 12-15 who pick about food,eat three time are not on time,always eat dessert,roadside stalls,and drink carbonated drinks(43.42%,31.42%,9.78%,2.87%,6.91%)is significantly higher than that of students aged 16-18(36.73%,24.38%,4.01%,0.62%,3.09%),(P<0.05).Moreover,The influence factors of unhealthy eating behavior of middle school students include age and family monthly income.Conclusions The nutritional knowledge scores of middle school students were low in the Yongning,the nutritional status was not optimistic,and a“double peak phenomenon”exists in the nutritional status.The nutritional status and nutrition knowledge of female participants were better than that of male participants.The nutritional status of child with siblings were better than single child.The second,the diet behavior of middle school students is unreasonable.Especially,students aged 12-15,they need to develop good diet habits from an early age.Suggestions Effective nutrition education and publicity for students were the important avenue to improve this phenomenon.The society,school and family should work together to enhance the popularization of students'nutrition knowledge,ensure students'reasonable dietary intake and cultivate healthy dietary behaviors. |
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