Nutrition knowledge among Uygur middle school students and their parents

Objective To explore the status of nutrition knowledge among Uygur middle school students and their parents for the improvement of nutrition knowledge,attitude and behavior among the students.Methods With random cluster sampling,427 Uygur students(144 males and 283 females) from 4 middle schools in Urumuqi and their parents were recruited for a self-designed questionnaire survey.Results The average nutrition knowledge score of the students(4.04±1.95 for the total score of 10.00) was higher than that of the parents(3.40±1.87),with a significant difference(t=5.30,P＜0.05).The scores of the students with the parents engaged in mental work and semi-mental work were 4.22±1.94 and 4.38±2.04,higher than that of students with parents engaged in physical work(3.57±1.73,t=4.73;P＜0.05).The score of the students with parents having education level of high school or above was significantly higher than that of students with parents having education of middle school or below(P<0.05).The major influential factors of the nutrition knowledge score were education level of the mother and whether or not being a singleton among the students.Conclusion The general nutrition knowledge level is low for Uygur middle school students and their parents in Urumuqi city and parents’ education and family structure are influential factors of nutrition knowledge of the students.