Influence of lifestyle on nutritional status among primary and secondary students in Harbin

Objective To understand current status of the influence of lifestyle on nutritional status among elementary and high school students of Harbin.Methods Students from grade 4 and 5 in one elementary school,one junior and one senior high school in urban and rural Harbin were selected,respectively.A total of 5016 students were investigated in September 2014 with the same questionnaire from National Students Physical Fitness and Health Survey 2014.Height and weight was measured and body mass index (BMI) was calculated.Results The proportion of students who were lack sufficient sleep (≥ 8 h) in urban area was 62.0%,while 55.1% in rural area;1.2% and 3.1% not having breakfast,and 27.5% and 28.4% felt the homework burdensome,as well as 27.7% and 24.9% of students had exercise less than 30 min/d,in urban and rural areas,respectively.There were differences between urban and rural on sleeping,having breakfast,drinking milk,catting eggs,school work burden,everyday's homework time,watching TV and playing game,everyday's exercise time,feeling about physical class(x2 =30.80,46.50,110.86,18.41,56.48,186.83,117.40,147.87,119.58,P<0.01).BMI increased with age.There were significant regional differences in BMI at 9,13,14 and 17 years old(P<0.05).Harbin students had comorbid situation with malnutrition and overweight/obesity.Obesity among boys were higher than that of girls,however,malnutrition was more common among girls.Multiple regression analysis showed that health behaviors including participation in long-distance running,sleep duration,physical education,general mood,time spent in homework after school,consumption of eggs per week,screen time,parental exercise attitude and behavior,breakfast had a strong impact on BMI.Condusion Unhealthy behavior is common among students in urban and rural Harbin,which might have adverse effects on growth and development.