Investigation of influencing factors of stunting in children aged 3‒4 years in Changning District， Shanghai / 上海预防医学

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo analyze the influencing factors of stunting among 3 to 4-year-old children in Changning District， Shanghai， in order to provide a scientific basis for early prevention and intervention for stunting. MethodsRandom cluster sampling was employed to select1 514 children from 16 kindergartens in Changning District， Shanghai as the survey subjects. Basic information such as height， weight， perinatal and infant feeding status， diet and lifestyle， as well as parental information was collected. The detection rate of stunting was calculated， and the influencing factors of stunted growth were analyzed. ResultsThe stunting detection rate of the 1 514 children was 5.4%. In terms of family-related factors， parents of stunted children had lower heights and a lower proportion of accessing growth and developmental knowledge from professional platforms compared to parents of non-stunted children （both P<0.05）. Among individual-related factors， the proportion of premature birth， low birth weight， short birth length， twin or multiple births， low fruit consumption， vitamin D intake， short outdoor playtime， and frequent nighttime waking was higher in the stunting group than in the control group （P<0.05）. Binary logistic multivariate regression analysis showed that shorter parental height （OR=4.35， 95%CI：1.20‒15.84 and OR=3.49， 95%CI：1.43‒8.51）， low birth weight （OR=2.99，95%CI：1.28‒7.05）， multiple or twin pregnancies （OR=3.78，95%CI：1.29‒11.06）， short outdoor playtime during weekends and holidays （OR=2.34，95%CI：1.02‒5.46）， frequent nighttime waking （OR=1.89， 95%CI：1.06‒3.39）， and consuming fewer fruits daily （OR=1.81， 95%CI： 1.01‒3.26） significantly increased the risk of stunting. ConclusionLow parental height， low birth weight， being twins or multiples， limited outdoor playtime during holidays， frequent nighttime waking， and low daily fruit consumption are major risk factors for stunting in infants and children.