BackgroundChildhood obesity is a worldwide critical health concern. We aimed to clarify whether eating behaviours increased the risk of childhood obesity.MethodsWe recruited 2,049 pre-school children aged 3–6 years between 1 December 2021 and 31 January 2022 in Taizhou, China. Children's weight status was classified according to the International Obesity Task Force criteria, and their eating behaviours were evaluated using the Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Correlation analyses, linear regressions, and one-way ANCOVA. were performed to analyse the association between children's eating behaviours and weight status.ResultsIn ‘Food Avoidant' subscales, the scores of satiety responsiveness (P < 0.001) and slowness in eating (P = 0.001) were negatively associated with body mass index z score among pre-school children of both sexes. In ‘Food Approach’ subscales, the score of enjoyment of food was positively associated with body mass index z score in both boys (P = 0.007) and girls (P = 0.035), but the association of scores of food responsiveness with body mass index z score was found only in girls (P = 0.001).ConclusionOur results supported that pre-school children with low scores in ‘Food Avoidant’ subscales and high scores in ‘Food Approach’ scales were more likely to become obese.
BackgroundEarly childhood is a critical period for dietary education and development of good eating habits. However, few studies have investigated the effect of eating order in children and childhood obesity in real-world settings.ObjectiveTo examine whether the order in which meats/fish or vegetables are consumed affects the risk of obesity in preschoolers.MethodsWe conducted a population-based cross-sectional study using a self-administered online survey on the lifestyle and health behaviors of preschoolers in Taizhou, China. A total of 3,200 parents were invited to take part in the survey, and 2,049 of them completed the questionnaire. Children were classified as having a normal weight, overweight, or obesity using the definitions provided by the International Obesity Task Force, and z-scores for body mass index were calculated. We divided the children's eating order at the beginning of the meal into two groups: “vegetables before meats/fish” or “meats/fish before vegetables”. We analyzed the relationship between what was consumed first at a meal and the overweight status of each child.ResultsNo difference in body mass index was observed between the children eating meats/fish-first and the children eating vegetables-first during a meal. Children with parents who were affected by obesity were more likely to eat vegetables first. Among children of mothers with obesity, body mass index was significantly higher in the meats/fish-first group than that in the vegetable-first group (2.891 vs. 0.845, P = 0.007). In children whose mothers were affected by obesity, those that ate meats/fish first had a 12.21 times higher risk of being overweight compared with those that ate vegetables first (95% CI:1.22–121.74, P = 0.033).ConclusionOur findings suggest eating vegetables or meats/fish at the start of a meal does not affect weight status in preschoolers.
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