Abstract
BackgroundLittle is known regarding the nutritional burden in Chinese ethnic minority children. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of excess body weight and underweight for 26 ethnic groups.MethodsData on 80,821 participants aged 7–18 years across 26 minorities, with completed records from a large national cross-sectional survey, were obtained from Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health (CNSSCH) in 2014. Excess body weight, underweight and their components were classified according to Chinese national BMI references.ResultsThe overall prevalence of excess body weight and underweight among ethnic groups were 12.0% and 14.5%, in which 4.4% and 4.1% of the participants were classified as obese and severe wasting, respectively. Compared with girls, boys showed a higher prevalence of underweight, severe wasting and obesity, but a lower prevalence of excess body weight (P < 0.05). Among 26 ethnic groups, Koreans had the highest prevalence of excess body weight (30.4%), while Bouyeis showed the highest prevalence of underweight (25.7%). The ethnic minority groups with high prevalence of excess body weight and underweight were more likely to show high burden of obesity and severe wasting, respectively. However, it is not the case for some groups, such as Miaos and Shuis.ConclusionsA worrying dual burden of excess body weight and underweight was recognized in Chinese ethnic minority children. Since various characteristics were found among different minorities, the ethnic-specific effort is warranted to improve their nutritional status.
Highlights
Little is known regarding the nutritional burden in Chinese ethnic minority children
Using most recent data from the Chinese National Survey on Students’ Constitution and Health (CNSSCH), a national cross-sectional study conducted in 2014, this study investigated the burden of excess body weight, underweight, and their severe situations among children and adolescents aged 7–18 years from 26 ethnic minority groups, and further explored the epidemiological characteristics of the abnormal nutritional status among these ethnicities
Burden of obesity and severe wasting across 26 ethnic minority groups The burden of excess body weight and underweight was further investigated by analyzing the proportion of their
Summary
Little is known regarding the nutritional burden in Chinese ethnic minority children. A dramatic rise of overweight and obesity had been reported in Chinese children aged 7–18 years old, which had increased over 13-fold in boys and almost 5-fold in girls from 1985 to 2014, which has posed a major public health challenge [5,6,7,8,9,10]. There is much has been written about the epidemic of child obesity, underweight in children and adolescents generates a considerably major problem, especially in developing countries. According to a WHO report, approximately 16% of children in developing countries are classified as severely malnourished [12]. Little is known among Chinese ethnic minority children and adolescents
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