Nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviors among primary and middle school students in boarding schools

Objective To examine the status of nutrition knowleged and related behaviors among primary and middle school students in boarding schools in Tibetan ethnic areas of Qinghai province and to provide evidences for nutrition education and health promotion in the students.Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 2 532 primary and middle school students selected with stratified cluster random sampling from 4 Tibetan boarding schools in Guinan and Haiyan prefecture of Qinghai province.Results Among the students,less than 20% knew consequences of nutrient deficiency,reasonable collocation of breakfast and prevention methods of calcium deficiency and less than 40% knew the sources of high quality protein,benefits of adequet nutrition for growth and development,benefitial effects of consuming vegetables and fruits,hazards of eating fried food,and the food important for anemia prevention.The middle school students had higher knowlege rates for the most of nutrition-related iterms than the primary school students (P<0.05 for all).Of all the students,33.81%acquired nutrition knowledges through radio and television and 30.69%through lectures of their teachers; 73.66% reported preference of salty food and 65.88%did not eat animal liver.Conclusion Nutritional related knowledge is low and unhealthy dietary behaviors are prevalent among primary and middle school students in boarding schools in Tibetan ethnic areas of Qinghai province,indicating nutrition education and health promotion should be carried out in the students.