Eating Behavior Problems Of Children Aged Between 1 And 6 Years Old And Its Influencing Factors Among Some Rural Areas Of Anhui Province: A Cross-sectional Study

Objective The prevalence of eating behavior problems of children is high in China.However,most of the current studies are conducted in large and medium-sized urban areas,and the research on rural areas is relatively lacking.In order to provide a scientific evidence for improving eating behavior problems of children in rural area,this study was conducted to investigate eating behavior problems of children aged 1-6 in rural areas of Anhui province,to understand the prevalence and distribution of eating behavior problems among children in this area,and to explore its influencing factors.Methods Using the convenient sampling,the main caregivers of children were selected as the survey objects in four rural areas of Anhui province.A cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate the basic information of children,parents,families,children's bringing-up,children's early feeding,children's eating behavior problems,anxiety and depression of the caregivers.Epi Data3.1 software was used to input data,and SPSS23.0software was used for data processing and analysis.Results A total of 2231 children aged 1-6 years were investigated in this study,including 1151 male children and 1080 female children.The average age of children was(3.11±1.61)years old.The prevalence of children's eating behavior problems: 1208 children were reported with eating behavior problems in this study,and the overall prevalence was 54.1%;More than half of children in each age group had eating behavior problems,and more than half of boys and girls had eating behavior problems;Among all kinds of eating behavior problems,the highest prevalence was poor appetite(38.1%),followed by poor eating habits(28.8%),and the lowest was potential organic diseases(2.9%).The results of univariate analyses for the influencing factors of children's eating behavior problems: there were significant difference in comparison between groups in factors including the only children,parents' discipline attitude towards children,beating and scolding children,time of falling asleep after going to bed,night waking,time of supplementing supplementary food,regular supplementation of cod liver oil,caregivers' anxiety and depression.It was found that there was no difference in the overall prevalence of eating behavioral problems between groups of children with different gender,age and left-behind status(P>0.05).The detection rates of various kinds of eating behavioral problems were also compared in different age and gender of children.The results showed that the detection rates of food preference,poor eating habits,and potential organic diseases were significantly different in the different age group.While no significant difference in detection rates of various kinds of eating behavioral problems was found in boys and girls.The results of multivariate analyses for the influencing factors of children's eating behavior problems:(1)Risk factors for children's eating behavior problems included following: the only child,parents' inconsistent discipline attitude towards children,frequently beating and abusing children,longer time of falling asleep after going to bed,night waking,caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms.The regular supplement of cod liver oil was a protective factor for children's eating behavior problems;(2)Risk factors for poor appetite included following: the only children,inconsistent parental attitudes toward children,frequently beating and abusing children,night waking,maternal age,and caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms;(3)Risk factors for food preference included following: children's age,the only child,inconsistent parental attitudes toward children,time to sleep after bed above 30 minutes,and caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms;(4)Risk factors for poor eating habits included following: children's age,the only child,parents' inconsistent discipline attitude towards children,frequently beating and abusing children,time to sleep after going to bed above30 minutes,caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms.The early regular supplementation of cod liver oil was a protective factor for poor eating habits;(5)Risk factors for parental misperception included following: parents' inconsistent discipline attitude towards children,pure milk powder feeding,caregivers' anxiety and depression symptom.The early supplementation of cod liver oil was a protective factor for parental misperception;(6)Caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms were risk factors for fear of eating;(7)Inconsistent parental attitudes toward children and caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms were risk factors of potential organic diseases.Conclusion The prevalence of eating behavior problems in children aged 1 to 6 years in some rural areas of Anhui province is high.Children's eating behavior problems have no significant association with children's gender and left-behind status,but significantly associated with factors including children's age,the only child,parents' discipline attitude towards children,beating and abusing children,time of falling asleep after going to bed,night waking,and caregivers' anxiety and depression symptoms.