Status of snack behavior of senior primary school students in agricultural and pastoral areas of Qinghai Province / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand the current situation regarding snack food consumption among grade 4 and grade 5 primary school students in agricultural and pastoral areas of Qinghai Province, China, and to provide a scientific basis for nutrition education and intervention strategies.@*Methods@#Multistage stratified cluster random sampling was employed. The research included 969 fourth and fifth grade students were selected from 10 primary schools in four counties and districts of three cities in Haidong City, Hainan Prefecture and Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai Province. The self report questionnaire method was used to investigate the current status regarding snack food consumption in this population.@*Results@#The proportion of students who consumed snack food at home, school and elsewhere were 98.2%, 88.5% and 75.4%, respectively. Male students reported a lower rate of snack consumption at school than female students ( χ 2=9.66). The fifth grade students reported a higher rate of snack consumption at home and other places than the fourth grade students ( χ 2=10.31, 6.77). The reported rate of snack consumption of students in the rural was higher than that in the county( χ 2=6.03,100.53, 24.77). The reported rate of snack consumption of boarding students at home was lower than that of non-boarding students ( χ 2=7.22), while the reported rate of snack consumption at school was higher than that of non-boarding students ( χ 2=9.04）（ P <0.01). The most popular snacks consumed at home included fruits and vegetables, cereals and nuts (76.9%, 67.2%, 63.7%), while the most popular snacks consumed at school were fruits and vegetables, cereals and candies (45.1%, 36.9%, 24.4%). The most popular snacks consumed in other settings included ice cream, candies and beverages(54.7%, 51.6%, 42.9%). The top three reasons for snacking were that snacks were regarded as delicious, healthy/nutritious and clean (76.9%, 65.5% and 59.0%, respectively).@*Conclusion@#Snacking is popular among students, although many snacks are unhealthy. Therefore, there is a need to improve food environments and nutrition education, so as to help students to choose healthy beverages and adopt healthy eating behaviors.