Nutritional knowledge,attitudes and behaviors among primary and middle school students in southern Ningxia

Objective To explore nutritional knowledge, attitudes, behaviors among primary and middle school students in mountain areas of southern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region(Ningxia) and to provide reference for nutritional interventions.Methods Stratified cluster sampling was used to select 2 109 primary and middle school students of grade 4 to 9 in Xiji, Tongxin, Haiyuan, Jingyuan, and Yuanzhou county in mountain areas of southern Ningxia and their nutritional knowledge, attitude, and practice(KAP) were evaluated with a questionnaire survey.Results Among the students the nutritional knowledge increased with age, with a significant difference between primary and middle school students;the most of the students had the desire to acquire nutrition knowledge.There were 89.85%(1 895/2 109) of the students reporting correct knowledge about breakfast and 96.25%, 74.82%, and 71.98% of the students reporting grain as the major food in breakfast, lunch, and supper, respectively, suggesting the lack of diversity in diet among the students.There were 13.61% of the students having food preference.Conclusion Health education on nutritional knowledge should be promoted among primay and middle school students of different gender and age to improve their dietary behavior.