Association of eating behaviors with overweight/obesity among pupils

Objective To explore the association of eating behaviors with overweight/obesity among children,and to provide evidence for family-school based child obesity prevention and control.Methods By using cluster random sampling strategy,1 785 children in grade 3 to 5 were selected from 12 primary schools in urban area of Beijing.The height and weight were measured.The information regarding bowl size used at home and eating speed was collected through questionnaire survey,as well as eating behaviors.The association of bowl size and eating speed with overweight/obesity in children was analyzed through unavailable analysis and multivariable logistic regression.Results The prevalence of overweight/obesity was higher in boys than in girls (47.8% vs 25.6%,x2 =94.54,P<0.001) and there existed statistically significant differences in prevalence of overweight/obesity among different sizes of bowls at home (x2=6.75,P=0.009) and between eating speed groups(x2=57.33,P<0.01).After adjustment for the effects of other factors on childhood overweight/obesity,multivariate logistic regression showed that using bowls smaller than that of adults(OR =1.55,95%CI=1.14~ 2.11,P=0.005) and eating faster than same age and same gender classmates(OR =2.50,95%CI=1.51~4.16,P<0.01) were risk factors for overweight/obesity in children.Conclusion The relative size of bowls used at home and eating speed are associated with overweight/obesity in children.Appropriate size of bowls for meal and no fast eating should be considered in formulating possible interventions to prevent childhood overweight/obesity.