Abstract
Background: This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate dietary diversity and its associated factors in Chinese preschoolers and explore whether the daily food consumption of children with different dietary diversity-associated characteristics met recommended dietary amounts. Methods: A cross-sectional study covering seven cities and two villages was conducted and included 697 preschool children aged 3–7 years old. Dietary diversity score (DDS) and DDS 10 were calculated based on 24-h dietary recall. The food-intake differences among children with different DDS 10 predictors were examined. Results: The mean DDS and DDS 10 in Chinese preschool children were 7.4 ± 1.5 (ranged from 3 to 9) and 7.0 ± 3 (ranged from 3 to 9) respectively. Positive predictors of dietary diversity included residing in an urban environment, a higher household expenditure on children’s food, and a higher frequency of eating outside. Food-intake differences existed among the predictors. Conclusions: Education and intervention should be strengthened to improve the dietary diversity of preschool children, especially in rural areas. The overall dietary pattern of children requires attention, which means not only increasing dietary diversity but also avoiding an unbalanced diet.
Highlights
The preschool period is crucial for a child’s growth and development, parents pay attention to their children’s nutritional status
Children living in rural areas, whose parents had a lower education level, whose households had a lower income, and whose parents spent less of the household monthly expenditure on their food had significantly lower Dietary diversity score (DDS)
Developing a healthy and balanced dietary pattern is essential for preschool children because their habits in this period may last for a long time [23]
Summary
The preschool period is crucial for a child’s growth and development, parents pay attention to their children’s nutritional status. It is noteworthy that preschoolers maintain their dietary habits for long periods of time, even into adulthood [1]. It is important to help children develop and maintain healthy food habits. Many studies have shown that dietary diversification has beneficial effects on micronutrient adequacy and is positively correlated with health outcomes at different ages [2,3,4], especially in children [5,6,7]. In China, similar research has shown a correlation between dietary diversification and growth in children [10,11]. This study aimed to comprehensively evaluate dietary diversity and its associated factors in Chinese preschoolers and explore whether the daily food consumption of children with different dietary diversity-associated characteristics met recommended dietary amounts
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