Family food environment of primary and secondary school students in five key monitoring counties of the Nutrition Improvement Program for Students in Compulsory Education in Rural Areas in Henan province, 2021: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

ObjectiveTo analyze the family food environment of students in key monitoring counties of the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students in Henan province in 2021, to provide data support for further strengthening nutrition education. MethodsThe study participants were 5 682 students from 20 primary schools and 20 secondary schools selected by stratified random cluster sampling in five key monitoring counties of the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students in Henan province. Students were measured for height and weight in 2021, and their parents were anonymously surveyed on-site using a questionnaire developed by researchers at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention on knowledge and behaviors related to child nutrition and health. ResultsAmong the parents of 5 673 students with valid data, the awareness rate of child nutrition and health knowledge was 68.94% and the prevalence rate of behaviors related to child nutrition and health was 26.65%. The detection rate of overweight and obesity among students was 27.38%. There were 55.37% of parents who reported accurate perception on their children's body size, but 41.62% of parents underestimated their children's body size, and parents' biased perception on children's body size was not related to their knowledge and practices related to child nutrition and health. The agreement between parents' perception of children's body type and the measurement based body size assessment was poor (Kappa = 0.203, P < 0.001). Conclusion In the key monitoring counties of the Nutrition Improvement Program for Rural Compulsory Education Students in Henan province, the awareness rate of child nutrition and health knowledge among parents of primary and secondary school students is relatively high, but the prevalence of child nutrition and health behaviors and accurate perception of their children's body size are low, indicating a gap between knowledge and practice. Parents of students generally underestimate their children's body size, which is not conducive to controlling overweight and obesity among students.

Keywords

• family food environment
• nutritional health knowledge
• healthy dietary behaviors
• body size perception
• primary and secondary school students
• henan province