Breakfast behaviors and related determinants among rural children aged 1-7 years in seven provinces of China

ObjectiveTo explore the status and related determinants of breakfast behaviors among rural children aged 1-7 years in China. MethodsTotally 14 434 children aged 1-7 years in rural areas of 7 provinces were randomly selected with multi-stage cluster sampling and investigated with a face-to-face questionnaire survey.Chi-square test and logistic regression model were used to screen the determinants of breakfast behaviors. ResultsThe number of children not eating breakfast,eating breakfast irregularly,and eating breakfast regularly were 1 041(7.2%),2 451(16.7%),and 10 972(76.0%),respectively.The majority of rural children ate grain.The ratios of taking rice,buns and soybean milk in the rural children were 85.0%,57.1%,and 6.0%.There were 56.8% of the children eating less than 3 kinds of food in breakfast.Only 5.2% of the children ate more than 4 kinds of food in breakfast.The results of logistic regression model showed that breakfast behaviors in the children were related to children's age,nationality,living condition,being only child,kinds of food,as well as family's per capita income. ConclusionIt is urgent to take active intervention to improve the breakfast behaviors of rural children because of high rate of breakfast omission and small types of food in breakfast in the rural children aged 1-7 years.