Snack food consumption among grade four and grade five primary school students in six cities of China

Abstract

Objective To understand snack food consumption among students of grade four and grade five in six cities of China, and to provide evidence for conducting nutritional education and making intervention strategies.

Methods A multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select 12 197 primary school students in grade four and grade five from 72 primary schools in Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Chongqing, Jinan, Harbin. All the participants were administered with a self-administered questionnaire survey on dietary behaviors.

Results The proportion of pupils who consumed snack food at home, school and elsewhere was 96.4%, 59.4% and 75.5% respectively. The most popular snacks at home were fruits & vegetables, milk, cereals (72.0%, 71.1%, 68.6%), the most popular snacks at school were fruits & vegetables, milk, cereals (30.0%, 28.2%, 23.8%), the most popular snacks in other places were sugars, cereals and beverages (36.6%, 36.2%, 35.7%). The top five reasons for snack food was being delicious, healthy/nutritious, clean, choices of peers and family members (68.5%, 49.3%, 42.2%, 24.7%, 17.8%, respectively).

Conclusion Snack food consumption is popular among primary students, most of which are unhealthy. Nutrition education for students and parents should be encouraged to promote students to consume snacks reasonably and develop healthy eating behaviors.

Abstract

【摘要】 目的 了解中国髙年级小学生零食消费现状，为开展儿童营养教育及制定干预措施提供科学依据。 方法 采用多阶段分层随机整群抽样方法，从北京、广州、南京、重庆、济南、哈尔滨6个城市的72所小学随机抽取四、五年级小学 生12 197名作为研究对象，通过自填问卷的方法调査零食消费现状。 结果 小学生在家里、学校和其他地方吃零食的报 告率分别为96.4%，59.4%和75.5%。小学生在家里最常消费的零食前3位依次为新鲜水果蔬菜、奶及奶制品、谷类 (72.0%，71. 1%，68.6%)，在学校最常消费的零食前3位依次是新鲜水果蔬菜、奶及奶制品、谷类（30.0%，28.2%，23.8%)， 在其他地方最常消费的零食前3位依次是糖果、谷类、饮料（36.6%，36.2%，35.7%)。小学生消费零食原因的前5位依次是 好吃、健康/有营养、干净卫生、很多同学喜欢吃和家里人常吃（68.5%，49.3%，42.2%，24.7%，17.8%)。 结论 四、五年级小 学生吃零食现象普遍存在，零食种类不合理。需要开展学生及家长营养教育，促使学生合理消费零食，养成健康饮食行为。