Zhou Mi, Wang Yuexun, Yao Sen, Wen Xiuzhe, Sun Jiayi, Wang Yang, Huang Li
Business School, Xuzhou University of Technology, Xuzhou, 221018, Jiangsu, China.
College of Economics and Management, Shenyang Agricultural University, Liaoning, 110866, China.
Arch Public Health. 2025 Mar 13;83(1):69. doi: 10.1186/s13690-025-01545-z.
In rural areas of China, the prevalence of obesity in children has grown continuously, becoming a major problem in the field of pediatrics. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Internet use and obesity in rural children and explore the mediating role of unhealthy dietary preferences.
This study empirically tested the impact of Internet use on obesity in rural children and its mechanism by using the survey data of Chinese rural primary and secondary school students, the OLS model, the two-stage least squares method, and the mediation effect model.
This study provides new evidence that the prevalence of obesity is higher when more internet time is spent. When length of Internet use increased by one unit, the BMI-Z value of rural children increased by 11.2%. Analysis shows that Internet use has a significant impact on obesity through three types of unhealthy diets: "fast food preference", "snack food preference" and "soft drink and sugary fruit drink preference" (all at the 1% level). Heterogeneity analysis found that non-left behind (NLBC), male and depressed rural children's obesity was more significantly affected by Internet use (significant at 1%, 10% and 10%, respectively).
This study provides new evidence that the prevalence rate of obesity is higher when more internet time is spent, especially in NLBC, boys and depressed children.
在中国农村地区，儿童肥胖率持续上升，已成为儿科学领域的一个主要问题。本研究旨在探讨农村儿童上网与肥胖之间的关系，并探究不健康饮食偏好的中介作用。
本研究利用中国农村中小学生的调查数据、OLS模型、两阶段最小二乘法和中介效应模型，实证检验了上网对农村儿童肥胖的影响及其作用机制。
本研究提供了新的证据，即上网时间越长，肥胖率越高。上网时长每增加一个单位，农村儿童的BMI-Z值就增加11.2%。分析表明，上网通过“快餐偏好”“零食偏好”和“软饮料及含糖果汁饮料偏好”这三种不健康饮食对肥胖产生显著影响（均在1%水平）。异质性分析发现，非留守儿童、男性和抑郁的农村儿童的肥胖受上网的影响更为显著（分别在1%、10%和10%水平显著）。
本研究提供了新的证据，即上网时间越长，肥胖率越高，尤其是在非留守儿童、男孩和抑郁儿童中。
