Ogata Yasue, Yokoyama Yoshie, Akiyama Yuka, Yamagata Zentaro
School of Health Sciences Department of Nursing, Bukkyo University.
Graduate School of Nursing, Osaka City University.
Nihon Koshu Eisei Zasshi. 2021 Jul 20;68(7):493-502. doi: 10.11236/jph.20-114. Epub 2021 May 14.
Objectives This study aimed to clarify the relationship between economic disparity and eating habits of young children to explore the support that should be provided to families with young children.Methods We conducted an anonymous self-administered questionnaire survey of parents who brought their children to the 3-year-old health checkup in four wards in City A. Questionnaire items examined the children's eating habits and the childrearing environment, such as the parents' socioeconomic status. Of 1,150 parents asked to participate in the survey, 616 responded (response rate: 53.6%). Invalid questionnaires (e.g., with missing answers) were eliminated. The remaining 498 parents (effective response rate: 80.8%) were classified into two groups to examine the association of household financial status with their 3-year-old eating habits: the relative poverty group and the non-relative poverty group. The groups were divided according to the poverty line of the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher's exact test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Eating habits that were identified to be associated with relative poverty were further tested using logistic regression analysis.Results Analysis of the children's eating habits in the two groups revealed that, compared with the non-relative poverty group, there was a higher proportion of 3-year-olds who ate vegetables less than 6 days a week (P=0.003) and who consumed snacks 6 days or more per week (P=0.034) in the relative poverty group. The associations of relative poverty with vegetable intake less than 6 days a week and snack consumption 6 days or more a week remained significant after adjusting for parents' age, highest educational attainment, and subjective views on the everyday economic situation. Regarding the childrearing environment, the relative poverty group had a higher proportion of parents who were younger than 30 years of age (P<0.001) and in single-parent households (P=0.007). The relative poverty group had a higher proportion of parents whose highest education level was high school (P<0.001). Furthermore, the subjective view of the everyday economic situation was more negative in the relative poverty group (P<0.001).Conclusion Economic disparity was related to the eating habits of 3-year-old children. The study results indicate that identifying families with financial difficulties during pregnancy and childbirth is necessary to support them early on so that young children can acquire healthy eating habits.
目的 本研究旨在阐明经济差距与幼儿饮食习惯之间的关系，以探索应为有幼儿的家庭提供何种支持。
方法 我们对在A市四个区带孩子进行3岁健康检查的家长进行了匿名自填式问卷调查。问卷项目调查了孩子的饮食习惯和育儿环境，如父母的社会经济地位。在1150名被邀请参与调查的家长中，616人做出了回应（回应率：53.6%）。无效问卷（如答案缺失）被剔除。其余498名家长（有效回应率：80.8%）被分为两组，以研究家庭经济状况与其3岁孩子饮食习惯之间的关联：相对贫困组和非相对贫困组。两组根据生活条件综合调查的贫困线进行划分。使用Fisher精确检验和Mann-Whitney U检验进行统计分析。对确定与相对贫困相关的饮食习惯进一步使用逻辑回归分析进行检验。
结果 两组孩子饮食习惯分析显示，与非相对贫困组相比，相对贫困组中每周吃蔬菜少于6天的3岁孩子比例更高（P = 0.003），每周吃零食6天或更多天的孩子比例更高（P = 0.034）。在调整了父母年龄、最高教育程度和对日常经济状况的主观看法后，相对贫困与每周吃蔬菜少于6天以及每周吃零食6天或更多天之间的关联仍然显著。关于育儿环境，相对贫困组中年龄小于30岁的父母比例更高（P < 0.001），单亲家庭的比例更高（P = 0.007）。相对贫困组中最高教育水平为高中的父母比例更高（P < 0.001）。此外，相对贫困组对日常经济状况的主观看法更消极（P < 0.001）。
结论 经济差距与3岁孩子的饮食习惯有关。研究结果表明，在孕期和分娩期间识别有经济困难的家庭并尽早为其提供支持，以便幼儿养成健康的饮食习惯是必要的。
