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Associations of socio-demographic, environmental and parental factors, and nutritional status with fast food consumption among children aged 7-11 years old in Selangor

Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction: This cross-sectional study examined fast food consumption and its associated factors among primary school children in Selangor. Methods: A total of 221 children aged 7-11 years from six randomly selected primary schools in Petaling Perdana, Gombak, and Hulu Langat participated in this study. Parents completed a self-administered questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics, exposure to fast food advertising, home food availability, parental stress, attitude towards fast food, intake of fast food, and two-day dietary record of children. Height and weight of children were obtained from their school SEGAK records. Results: Mean age of children was 9±1 years. Mean days per week of fast food consumption among children was 3.2±1.6 days, with 45.7% consuming fast food for >3 days/ week. Factors associated with frequent fast food consumption were children whose fathers had non-tertiary education levels (aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.18–5.40), children with higher total screen viewing time (aOR 1.21, 95% CI 1.00–1.46), lower home food availability score (aOR 0.87, 95% CI 0.76–0.98), overweight and obese (aOR 2.38, 95% CI 1.23–4.60), requiring dietary improvements (aOR 4.03, 95% CI 1.36–11.98), and with poor diet quality (aOR 5.08, 95% CI 1.57–16.44). Conclusion: More than one third of the children consumed fast food for >3 days/week. Screen viewing time and home food availability should be considered when promoting healthy diets among children. Future research should consider other potential factors associated with children’s consumption of fast food
DOI: 10.31246/mjn-2023-0138
Authors: Shao Hui Chong, Mohd Shariff* Zalilah
Language: English
Field: Nursing
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W4404756946
FWCI: 0.231
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Cited by: 1
Related to: 10