Dietary Behaviors and Health Habits of Primary and Secondary School Students in Guangzhou

Objective To study the status of dietary behaviors and health habits of primary and secondary school students in Guangzhou,and to provide reference for students' health education.Methods A questionnaire survey was conducted among 8 222 students,who were chosen from grade 4-6 in 8 primary schools and all the students in 9 middle schools.Results The rates of students eating breakfast,lunch and supper everyday were 95.0%,98.9% and 97.8%,most of them ate at home. About 58.0% of the students had breakfast before 7 am.Among the students,15.5% ate the sweet food more than one time everyday during a week,56.1% drank less than one glass of milk(200mL) per day,20.9% drank more than one glass of sweet beverage per day,34.5% ate vegetable less than one time per day,a small part of the students ate fried food,pickle and bacon more than one time.Most of the students had the habits of washing their hands before the dinner and after defecation and brushing their teeth in the morning and in the evening.But 38.3% had the habit of patronizing the peddler.Conclusion Primary and secondary school students are one of the focal target people for preventing unhealthy dietary behaviors and habits.It is necessary to develop the health education in primary and secondary students,and to implement individual interventions to correct unhealthy dietary behaviors and habits.