Okorie Ijioma, Nwofia Blessing K, Ngonadi Chinaza, Okorie Adaeze C, Nnam Ngozi M
Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria.
Department of Dietetics, National Hospital Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.
BMC Nutr. 2024 Mar 7;10(1):50. doi: 10.1186/s40795-024-00832-2.
Eating behaviour at the childhood level plays a vital role in the outcome of the nutritional status and the overall health of an individual. The study was focused on the association between anthropometric status and child eating behaviour.
A community-based cross-sectional survey purposively enrolled consenting participants from 256 households with preschool children aged 2-4 years. The parents/legal guardians were interviewed on the eating behaviour of their children using a validated semi-structured child-eating behaviour scale, and anthropometric measurement of the children were taken. WHO Anthro-software for child growth standards was used to categorize anthropometric status of the preschool children. Paired sample t-test was performed to compare child-eating behaviour by gender, while regression and correlation analysis was performed to determine the extent to which child-eating behaviour predicted anthropometric status at 5% level of significance.
Mean comparison of child eating behaviour by gender showed significant difference (P < 0.05) between male and female children in their eating behaviour with respect to enjoyment of food and satiety responsiveness. Some of the children were wasted (26.6%), stunted (20.7%) and underweight (16.4%). A significant association (P < 0.05) was observed between body mass index-for-age and food fussiness behaviour of the children. There was also a significant difference (P < 0.05) between weight-for-age and food fussiness behaviour of the children.
The study showed that child eating behaviour may have contributed to the anthropometric status of the children, however, differences in their eating behaviours by gender was observed.
儿童时期的饮食行为对个体营养状况和整体健康的结果起着至关重要的作用。本研究聚焦于人体测量状况与儿童饮食行为之间的关联。
一项基于社区的横断面调查，有目的地从256户有2至4岁学龄前儿童的家庭中招募了同意参与的参与者。使用经过验证的半结构化儿童饮食行为量表，就其子女的饮食行为对父母/法定监护人进行了访谈，并对儿童进行了人体测量。使用世界卫生组织儿童生长标准的Anthro软件对学龄前儿童的人体测量状况进行分类。进行配对样本t检验以比较不同性别的儿童饮食行为，同时进行回归和相关分析，以确定在5%的显著性水平下儿童饮食行为对人体测量状况的预测程度。
按性别对儿童饮食行为进行的均值比较显示，男童和女童在对食物的喜爱和饱腹感反应方面的饮食行为存在显著差异（P < 0.05）。部分儿童存在消瘦（26.6%）、发育迟缓（20.7%）和体重不足（16.4%）的情况。观察到儿童年龄别体重指数与挑食行为之间存在显著关联（P < 0.05）。儿童年龄别体重与挑食行为之间也存在显著差异（P < 0.05）。
研究表明，儿童饮食行为可能对儿童的人体测量状况有影响，然而，观察到不同性别儿童的饮食行为存在差异。
