A survey of Eating Behaviors and their Relationship with Physical Health Status in School Children

Abstract

The present study was to investigate the eating behaviors and daily habits in elementary school children and their relationships with subjective physical symptoms by the questionnaire for school children and their parents in Fukusima.
The results were as follows:
(1) Only one third of school children in lower three grades had appetite in breakfast time, and only one fifth in upper grades had. The appetite rates were more than 50% in dinner time. About 5% of children ate breakfast alone.
(2) As to snacking, about 80% of children ate snack one time a day. The snacking time were delayed from 15 o’clock to 18 o’clock as the grade increased.
(3)The results of principal component analysis showed the first six components of more than 5 percent of variance, which were labeled “growth”, “weak constitution”, “snacking/familial care”, “daily life rhythm”, “good appetite”, and “sex differences of nutrition”.
(4) Taken these results and the previous findings together, the problems of eating behavior in school children were a) family life habit including snacking, b) the “night” style of daily life rhythm, c) gastroingestinal conditions and appetite, and d) excessive weight control in girls.