Table 2.
Characteristics of the study participants by gender (n 950)*
| Characteristics | Category | Male (n 479) | Female (n 471) | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | |||
| Dietary diversity score | Low (1–4) | 75 | 15·66 | 67 | 14·23 | 0·302 |
| Medium (5–6) | 265 | 55·32 | 261 | 55·41 | ||
| High (7–9) | 139 | 29·02 | 143 | 30·36 | ||
| Age (years) | 3 | 236 | 49·27 | 200 | 42·46 | 0·151 |
| 5 | 243 | 50·73 | 271 | 57·54 | ||
| Ethnicity | Han | 64 | 13·36 | 49 | 10·40 | 0·172 |
| Non-Han | 415 | 86·64 | 422 | 89·60 | ||
| BMI for age z-score | (–2,2) | 451 | 94·15 | 452 | 95·97 | 0·179 |
| ≥2, or ≤–2 | 28 | 5·85 | 19 | 4·03 | ||
| WMI | Normal | 369 | 77·04 | 376 | 79·83 | 0·540 |
| Borderline | 84 | 17·54 | 71 | 15·07 | ||
| Abnormal | 26 | 5·43 | 24 | 5·10 | ||
| VCI | Normal | 331 | 69·10 | 324 | 68·79 | 0·947 |
| Borderline | 96 | 20·04 | 98 | 20·81 | ||
| Abnormal | 52 | 10·86 | 49 | 10·40 | ||
| Time spent on TV/mobile | <60 min | 163 | 34·03 | 169 | 35·88 | 0·763 |
| ≥60 min | 316 | 65·97 | 302 | 64·12 | ||
| Parental education level | Junior high school or below | 364 | 75·99 | 361 | 76·65 | 0·917 |
| Senior high school or above | 115 | 24·01 | 110 | 23·35 | ||
| Left-behind status | Both parents at home | 140 | 29·23 | 137 | 29·09 | 0·672 |
| At least one parent emigrated | 339 | 70·77 | 334 | 70·91 | ||
| Primary caregiver’s education level | Junior high school or below | 441 | 92·07 | 422 | 89·60 | 0·168 |
| Senior high school or above | 38 | 7·93 | 49 | 10·40 | ||
| Household SES | Lowest tertile | 156 | 32·57 | 153 | 32·48 | 0·700 |
| Middle tertile | 153 | 31·94 | 164 | 34·82 | ||
| Highest tertile | 170 | 35·49 | 154 | 32·70 | ||
| Emotional problems | No | 286 | 59·71 | 296 | 62·85 | 0·043 |
| Yes | 193 | 40·29 | 175 | 37·15 | ||
| Conduct problems | No | 337 | 70·35 | 357 | 70·35 | 0·308 |
| Yes | 142 | 29·65 | 114 | 24·20 | ||
| Symptoms of hyperactivity/inattention | No | 358 | 74·74 | 373 | 79·19 | 0·037 |
| Yes | 121 | 25·26 | 98 | 20·81 | ||
| Peer relationship problems | No | 413 | 86·22 | 420 | 89·17 | 0·012 |
| Yes | 66 | 13·78 | 51 | 10·83 | ||
| Prosocial behaviour problems | No | 334 | 69·73 | 371 | 78·77 | 0·025 |
| Yes | 145 | 30·27 | 100 | 21·23 | ||
WMI, working memory index; VCI, verbal comprehension index; SES, socio-economic status.
*
Sample with complete data on both diet and mental health problems. A total of 1334 caregivers of preschoolers were surveyed at baseline. Those preschoolers with missing data for dietary intake, mental health problems or other confounding variables were excluded. In total, 384 caregivers were excluded from the study and 950 (71 %) were included for further analysis.