Abstract
We aimed to identify multiple nutritional health problems and the relevant factors among children and adolescents aged 7–17 years. This study was part of the China Nutrition and Health Surveillance of Children and Lactating Mothers in 2016–2017, conducted in Jiangsu Province in eastern China. After sampling, 3025 school-age children and adolescents were enrolled into this study. Demographic information collections and anthropometric measurements were conducted by trained local Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff. Venous blood in the amount of 6 mL was drawn from each participant in the morning and used for testing biochemical and nutritional indicators. Multivariate logistic regression analysis and Poisson regression analysis were used for overnutrition- and undernutrition-related disorders to test relevant personal, parental, and household factors. The prevalence of wasting, overweight, and obesity was 5.5%, 14.8%, and 12.7%, respectively. Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was prevalent among 5.1% of participants. Among the study participants, 29.5% had hyperuricemia. The overall prevalence of high low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high total cholesterol (TC) of all participants was 4.8% and 7.4%, respectively. 0.9% of the participants had vitamin A deficiency (VAD) and 14.6% had marginal vitamin A deficiency; 25.1% had vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and 54.5% had inadequate vitamin D levels. Anemia was present in 4.0% of all participants. The prevalence of zinc deficiency was 4.8%. Demographic characteristics, behavioral characteristics, parents’ characteristics, and family characteristics were associated with these multiple malnutrition disorders. The double burdens of malnutrition, which includes overnutrition- and undernutrition-related diseases, were prevalent among the school-age children and adolescents in Jiangsu Province in eastern China. There were various factors related to different nutritional problems. Thus, health education focusing on behavior intervention and nutrition education are necessary in containing nutritional problems among children.
Highlights
Nutrition is essential for children’s neurodevelopment and reproductive development and is associated with linear growth [1]
Of the 3025 school-age children and adolescents (7–17 years old) in the study, there were 50.2% males and 49.8% females; 34.6% of the participants were from urban areas and 65.4% were from rural areas
There was a remarkable difference in household size between genders (p = 0.009). When it came to anthropometric indexes, male participants had higher height, weight, and systolic blood pressure (SBP) than female participants, except for diastolic blood pressure (DBP), which was not different between males and females (Table 2)
Summary
Nutrition is essential for children’s neurodevelopment and reproductive development and is associated with linear growth [1]. Improving children’s nutrition is urgently needed for global development and for reducing the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) [2]. Various malnutrition diseases, including undernutritionand overnutrition-related disorders, are highly prevalent among children and adolescents in many countries [7,8]. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains a public health problem in China, where the prevalence of VAD in children was 5.16% in 2015 [9]. A high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) has been reported in infants, children, and adolescents from diverse countries around the world [10]. Zinc is an essential trace element for growth and development in children, but zinc deficiency is a serious nutritional problem in China. In 2012, the China Nutrition and Health Survey showed a 6.8% prevalence of zinc deficiency in 3407 school-age children [13]
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