Objective   To understand the relationship between dietary patterns and malnutrition in children aged 2 – 5 years in China.

  Methods   The data on diet, weight and height for 1 279 children aged 2 – 5 years were extracted from China Nutrition and Health Survey (CNHS) conducted in 2002. Dietary patterns were obtained through factor analysis and the effects of different dietary patterns on the risk of stunting, underweight, overweight and obesity of the children were analyzed using logistic regression model.

  Results  Three dietary patterns, namely traditional, nutritionally balanced and Western-style pattern, were identified among the children with factor analysis. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that compared with the children with traditional dietary pattern, the children with the nutrition-balanced and Western-style dietary pattern were at a decreased risk of growth retardation (odds ratio OR = 0.36 and OR = 0.26) and low weight (OR = 0.32 and OR = 0.11); the results also revealed insignificantly increased risks of growth retardation and low weight among the children with higher scores for nutrition-balanced dietary pattern.

  Conclusion   Among 2 – 5 years old children in China, dietary patterns are associated with the risk of malnutrition; nutrition-balanced and Western-style dietary pattern could reduce malnutrition risk, while traditional dietary patterns may increase the risk of malnutrition; however, there is no significant effect of dietary patterns on the incidence of overweight and obesity in the children.