Breakfast consumption behaviors of senior primary school students from agricultrual and pastoral areas of Qinghai Province / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To examine breakfast consumption among primary school students in grades 4 and 5 in Qinghai Province, China, and to provide evidence for nutrition education and intervention strategies.@*Methods@#We used a multistage stratified cluster random sampling method to select the participants. A total of 969 students were selected from 10 primary schools in four counties and districts of three cities, namely Haidong City, Hainan Prefecture and Haixi Prefecture in Qinghai Province. A self rated questionnaire was administered to investigate breakfast consumption.@*Results@#The proportion of students who consumed breakfast 5 to 7 times per week, 3 or 4 times per week, and 1 or 2 times per week were 82.0%, 9.7%, and 6.7%, respectively, while 1.5% never ate breakfast. In descending order, the breakfast food types consumed were cereals and tubers; milk, legumes and nuts; vegetables and fruits; fish and poultry; and meat and eggs (84.1%, 69.8%, 66.8%, and 37.7%, respectively). The proportion of vegetables and fruits in the breakfast of grade 5 students was higher than that of grade 4 students( χ 2=4.81, P = 0.03 ), the proportion of fish, poultry,meat and eggs in county urban areas was higher than that of students in rural( χ 2=6.94, P =0.03), while the proportion of vegetables and fruits in urban areas was lower than that of students in suburban areas( χ 2=53.33, P <0.01). The proportion of breakfast food containing fish,poultry,meat and eggs of boarding students was higher than that of non boarding students( χ 2=41.26, P <0.01), while the proportion of breakfast food containing vegetables and fruits, milk & legumens & nuts was lower than that of non-boarding students( χ 2=21.11, 4.41, P <0.01). A total of 44.8% of students had a poor quality breakfast, and only 16.3% had a good quality breakfast. Moreover, 47.5% of breakfasts were prepared by mothers, followed by the school canteen which prepared 29.9%. Except for students in different grades, there were statistically significant differences in the distribution of breakfast preparers in other groups( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#In Qinghai Province,breakfast skipping is observed in some senior primary school students, and the quality of breakfast is poor. Diet and nutrition education should be provided for students, parents, and school canteen staff to improve the frequency and nutritional quality of children s breakfasts.