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Food patterns and lifestyle factors that correlate to growth status of 5th grade schoolchildren in Taipei, Taiwan
Author(s) -
Tsai HsinJen,
Tsai Alan C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a189-b
Subject(s) - habit , medicine , food intake , food science , food consumption , environmental health , food habits , zoology , demography , biology , psychology , sociology , agricultural economics , economics , psychotherapist
This study investigated the impact of food patterns, TV‐watching time, and physical activity (PA) on growth status of 5 th grade schoolchildren (SC) in Taipei, Taiwan. A questionnaire elicited data on height, weight, intake frequencies of major food categories and fast‐food, TV‐watching time, and frequency of PA from 2290 SC. Results showed that girls were taller but lighter than boys (P<0.01). TV‐watching for ≥3 h/d was positively associated with BMI and weight of SC (P<0.01). PA was not significantly associated with height, weight or BMI. Among the major food categories, frequent intake of dairy was associated with lower BMI; frequent intake of fruits was associated with greater height while frequent intake of dessert was associated with lower BMI, height, and weight (all P<0.05). Among the fast‐food items, frequent intake of fried‐chicken was negatively associated with BMI and weight while frequent consumption of ice cream was positively associated with height (all P<0.05). Boys consumed meat, fish, seafood, eggs, soy products, sweetened beverages, and fast‐food more often than did girls, while the opposite was true for consumption of vegetables and fruits. Only 30% SC consumed dairy daily; 62% of SC consumed vegetables daily; 53% of SC consumed fruit daily. Around 18% of SC consumed fast‐food >1 time/wk. These results suggest that a high proportion of the SC need to improve their eating habit and that TV‐watching time and consumptions of dairy, dessert and fried chicken are the major impacting factors on SC’s growth status. Funding provided by University of Michigan.