Title: Nutritional status of primary and middle school students in underdeveloped rural areas
Abstract: Objective To understand the nutritional status and influencing factors of the primary and middle school students in underdeveloped rural areas in Guangdong Province.Methods Using multistage cluster random sampling,students were selected from 6 secondary and 6 primary schools in Nanxiong,Huazhou,and Huaiji counties to measure their height,weight,and waistline.The body mass index(BMI) was calculated to evaluate their nutritional status.Questionnaire survey about nutrition knowledge and eating behavior were conducted.The univariate logistic regression and multivariate logistic regression analysis method were used to analyze influencing factors.Results A total of 1 853 primary and secondary students were investigated(941 boys and 912 girls) in the primary and middle school students in underdeveloped rural areas in Guangdong.Of them,932 were junior high school students and 921 primary school students.The prevalences of malnutrition,overweight,and obesity were 26.3%(487/1 853),3.2%(59/1 853),and 0.9%(17/1 853),respectively.The prevalence of malnutrition in female students(28.1%)was higher than that in male students(24.5%),with statistically significant difference(P0.05).The results of the multivariate logistic regression showed that the nutrition awareness rate in primary and secondary students(≥60%,OR=0.950) was protective factor of malnutrition.Primary school students(OR=1.451),three children or more in a family(OR=1.326),left-behind children(OR=1.321)and often not eating breakfast(OR=1.405) were risk factors of malnutrition.Conclusion The prevalence of malnutrition was high in the primary and middle school students in underdeveloped rural areas.Malnutrition was associated with the family environment,nutrition knowledge and eating habit.The health education and behavior intervention should be taken to improve nutrition level for rural primary and middle school students.
Publication Year: 2012
Publication Date: 2012-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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