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BackgroundWearing a pollution mask is an effective, practical, and economic way to prevent the inhalation of dangerous particulate matter (PM). However, it is not uncommon to observe negligence in adopting such behaviour, and this especially among young segments of the population. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as conceptual framework, this study explores the role of socio-cognitive factors that affect the decision of wearing a pollution mask in the context of young educated people. This is done by selecting a sample of college students in urban China, a country that has seen air quality as one of the major challenges in the last decades. While young urban college students might be expected to be receptive to standard attempts to be influenced through reason-based cognitive stimuli, it is often found that this is not the case. The empirical analysis was articulated it in two steps. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was first used to examine the relationships among the conceptual constructs derived from the TPB conceptual model, and second Step-Wise Ordinary Least Squares Regressions (SWOLS) were employed to observe the partial effect played by each item on the decision to wear a mask.ResultsResults show that, while reason-based stimuli play a role, attitude, social norm, and self-efficacy were the most important predictors of the behavioural intention (p < 0.01). The role of past behaviour was also acknowledged as strongly associated with the dependent variable (p < 0.01). Overall, the likelihood of wearing a pollution mask increases with the importance of others socio-cognitive and psychological factors, which could help understand behavioural biases, and explain the relative role of several mechanisms behind the decision to wear a mask.ConclusionsWhile tackling pollution requires multiple and synergic approaches, encouraging self-prevention using pollution mask is a simple and effective action, implementable at negligible costs. Resistance among younger, well-educated cohorts to wear masks can be overcome by stressing the social desirability of action and the sense of empowerment derived from its usage. This study has the potential to inform policies aimed at changing suboptimal behavioural attitudes by identifying triggers for change, and it could serve in improving the tailoring of health promotion messages aimed at nudging healthy behaviour.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12992-018-0441-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

This paper suggests that monitoring the nutritional effects of new media exposure in China is of key importance in order to develop adequate health promotion policies, in both rural and urban areas.

Purpose. To investigate how breastfeeding initiation and duration affect the likelihood of being overweight and obese in children aged 2 to 5.Design. Cross-sectional data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health.Setting. Rural and urban areas of the United States.Subjects. Households where at least one member was between the ages of 2 and 5 (sample size 8207).Measures. Parent-reported body mass index, breastfeeding initiation and duration, covariates (gender, family income and education, ethnicity, child care attendance, maternal health and physical activity, residential area).Analysis. Partial proportional odds models.Results. In early childhood, breastfed children had 5.3% higher probability of being normal weight (p ¼ .002) and 8.9% (p , .001) lower probability of being obese compared to children who had never been breastfed. Children who had been breastfed for less than 3 months had 3.1% lower probability of being normal weight (p ¼ .013) and 4.7% higher probability of being obese (p ¼ .013) with respect to children who had been breastfed for 3 months and above.Conclusion. Study findings suggest that length of breastfeeding, whether exclusive or not, may be associated with lower risk of obesity in early childhood. However, caution is needed in generalizing results because of the limitations of the analysis. Based on findings from this study and others, breastfeeding promotion policies can cite the potential protective effect that breastfeeding has on weight in early childhood. (Am J Health Promot 0000;00[0]:000-000.)

Recent food scandals in China significantly decreased the level of consumer trust toward the food chain, and, at the same time, increased the demand for food quality and safety. This paper investigated perceptions and determinants of food quality among a sample of households in Shanghai.Survey questionnaires were collected between June and December 2014, and a total of 509 interviews were completed. Questions asked about food purchasing behaviours, dietary habits, and the importance of food quality when food shopping. Socio-demographic and socio-economic variables were also collected. We used ordered logit regressions to investigate the most significant factors associated with food quality. We found that respondents who frequently bought vegetables were 31% more likely to look for quality attributes (p < .1) and respondents who often bought rice 28% more (p < .01). Branding was also positively associated with the demand for food quality. In particular, consumers considering brand an important element were 25% more likely to believe that the product was of high quality (p < .05). Among socio-economic variables, higher income and education were significantly associated with food quality demand. Our results indicated that consumers in Shanghai paid increasing attention to food quality, and they especially associated it with traditional foods and brand. We suggested that policy makers and stakeholders in the food chain should strengthen food quality certification systems, and help consumers make better and more informed choices. K E Y W O R D Sconsumer behaviour, dietary habits, food quality, Shanghai, socio-economic status