Abstract
The aim of this study was to document the dietary diversity status of preschool children in poor, rural, and ethnic minority areas of Central South China and examine its associated factors both at home and in preschools. A cross-sectional study including 1328 preschool children aged three or five years from two nationally designated poverty counties in Hunan Province was conducted. A dietary diversity score (DDS) was constructed to measure the dietary patterns based on the 24 h recall method. The mean DDS among the sample children was 5.77 (95% confidence interval: 5.70–5.83, range 1 to 9) with a standard deviation of 1.22. Both household characteristics (including the education level of the child’s primary caregiver and the nutritional knowledge of the caregiver) and preschool factors (including the nutritional knowledge of the child’s preschool principal and teachers, nutritional training to children, and the preschool kitchen manager) were positively associated with children’s DDS. The dietary diversity status of children in poor, rural, and ethnic minority areas of Central South China is much lower than that of their peers in other areas. Nutritional education should be provided to caregivers, preschool staff, and children to narrow the gap.
Highlights
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for efforts to eliminate world hunger and malnutrition in all forms by 2030, and ensure the access of all people, especially children, to nutritious and abundant food
Several researchers documented the importance of dietary diversity in a healthy and balanced
The simplicity, efficiency, and reasonable accuracy the emphasized by earlier studies accuracy of dietary diversity score have made
Summary
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) call for efforts to eliminate world hunger and malnutrition in all forms by 2030, and ensure the access of all people, especially children, to nutritious and abundant food. Statistics show that, by 2017, millions of children under the age of five were still suffering from various forms of malnutrition. The numbers of children suffering from stunting, wasting, and being overweight were 150 million, 50 million, and 38 million, respectively [2]. We cannot afford to leave these children behind as malnutrition has various adverse effects, such as suboptimal brain development [5], immune deficiency [6], and a high risk of morbidity and mortality [7]. According to Black et al, malnutrition is estimated to contribute to more than 3.1 million child deaths annually, or 45% of all child deaths [8]
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