title: Child feeding practices, food habits, anthropometric indicators and cognitive performance among preschoolers in Peninsular Malaysia.
abstract: This study aimed to determine the relationship between child feeding practices, food habits, and anthropometric indicators with cognitive performance of preschoolers aged 4-6 years in Peninsular Malaysia (n=1933). Parents were interviewed on socio-demographic background, nutrition knowledge, child feeding practices and food habits. Height and weight of the preschoolers were measured; BMI-for-age, weight-for-age and height-for-age were determined. Cognitive performance was assessed using Raven's Colored Progressive Matrices. The mean monthly household income was RM3610 and 59.6% of parents attained secondary education. Thirty-three percent of parents had good knowledge on nutrition, 39% satisfactory and 28% poor. For child feeding practices, perceived responsibility had the highest mean score (M=3.99, SD=0.72), while perceived child weight had the lowest (M=2.94, SD=0.38). The prevalence of possible risk of overweight, being overweight, and obesity were 3.9%, 7.9% and 8.1%, respectively, whereas the prevalence of underweight and stunting were 8.0% and 8.4%, respectively. Breakfast was the second most frequently skipped meal (16.8%) after dinner (18.1%). The mean cognitive score was 103.5 (SD=14.4). Height-for-age and consumption of dinner were found to contribute significantly towards cognitive performance after controlling for socio-demographic background and parent's nutrition knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. nasir@medic.upm.edu.my
authors.forename: Mohd Taib
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Mohd Nasir
authors.forename: Abdul Karim
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Norimah
authors.forename: Abu Saad
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Hazizi
authors.forename: Abdul Razak
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Nurliyana
authors.forename: Siow Hon
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suraya
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013851:Thinness