ABSTRACT
Objective@#To understand the prevalence of eating behavior problems among preschool children in rural Hunan, and to explore its determinants, so as to provide a reference for solving their eating behavior problems.@*Methods@#A multistage stratified cluster sampling method was used to randomly select 3 288 preschool children aged 3-6 years and their caregivers from 24 kindergartens between August and November 2019. Eating behavior problems questionnaire survey and peripheral blood hemoglobin detection were conducted among the preschool children, and unconditional Logistic regression model was used to analyze the determinants.@*Results@#The total prevalence of eating behavior problems among preschool children in rural Hunan was 66.8%(2 195/3 288), and the three most common eating behavior problems were poor appetite(40.1%, 1 317/3 288), picky eating(43.6%, 1 434/3 288), poor eating habits(44.4%, 1 460/3 288), respectively. The risk factors for general eating behavior problems included left-behind children, caregiver occupation as professional and technical staffs, average daily static activity time≥3 hours, anemia, and second-hand smoke exposure, and older age and daily moderate/high intensity activities were protective factors. In the analysis of the three most common eating behavior problems: The risk factors for poor appetite included left-behind children, anemia, and second-hand smoke exposure, and daily moderate/high intensity activities was protective factors. The risk factors for picky eating included left-behind children, caregiver occupation as professional and technical staffs, high family income, average daily static activity time≥3 hours, and daily moderate/high intensity activities was protective factors. The risk factors for poor eating habits included left-behind children, caregiver occupation as professional and technical staffs, average daily static activity time≥3 hours, and older age and daily moderate/high intensity activities was protective factors.@*Conclusion@#The prevalence of eating behavior problems among preschool children in rural Hunan was high, which is influenced by age, left-behind, caregivers occupation, family income, activities, anemia, and second-hand smoke exposure.