Association of children's eating behaviors with parental education, and teachers' health awareness, attitudes and behaviors: a national school-based survey in China

In China, childhood obesity is a growing health issue. Eating behaviors among children can be influenced by both the family and school environment. We examine the association between these environments and eating habits among children. A total of 11 270 fourth to sixth grade school children, 11 270...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of public health 2014-12, Vol.24 (6), p.880-887
Main Authors: He, Liu, Zhai, Yi, Engelgau, Michael, Li, Weirong, Qian, Hanzhu, Si, Xiang, Gao, Xin, Sereny, Melanie, Liang, Jing, Zhu, Xiaolei, Shi, Xiaoming
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Awareness
Child
China - epidemiology
Chronic Disease - epidemiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Demography
Faculty
Feeding Behavior
Female
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Parents - psychology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:In China, childhood obesity is a growing health issue. Eating behaviors among children can be influenced by both the family and school environment. We examine the association between these environments and eating habits among children. A total of 11 270 fourth to sixth grade school children, 11 270 of their fathers or mothers, and 1348 teachers from 48 schools were sampled using a multistage cluster random sampling method. Questionnaires collected information on eating behaviors among children, non-communicable chronic disease (NCD)-related health knowledge and behaviors among teachers, and education levels among parents. Mixed effect logistic regression models were used to describe the key associations between eating behaviors among children and teacher and parental characteristics. Health awareness, positive health attitudes, never-smoking and regular-exercise among teachers was positively associated with healthy eating behaviors among their students (having breakfast, vegetables and dairy products every day; P < 0.05), and negatively associated with the unhealthy behaviors (daily intake of fried foods and desserts and sugary beverages; P < 0.05). More than one parent having a high school level or above was positively related to healthy eating behaviors among their children (P < 0.05), but its associations with high-calorie eating habits were negative in urban and positive in rural areas (P < 0.05). School-based interventions which target health-related awareness, attitude and behaviors among school teachers may help improve school-aged children's eating behaviors. Parental education levels may help guide efforts to target children at higher risk of unhealthy eating habits.
ISSN:1101-1262
1464-360X
DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckt177