A study of the sixth grade students’ body image , dietary behavior and related factors in Taiwan.

[[abstract]]The main purpose of this study was to investigate the influencing factors of body image and dietary behavior among sixth grade students and explore the predictors of dietary behavior. This study used secondary data collected from all Taiwan sixth grade students enrolled in 2003. Using stratified cluster sampling, self-administered questionnaire was carried out among 1,975 sixth grade students and their parents. The response rate was 80.0%. The collected data were analyzed by means of frequencies, means, Standard Deviation, Chi-square test, ANOVA and multiple regression. The results showed that: (1) There were 61.1% male and 54.4% female students having positive body image. The female students and more obese they were, the less satisfied they were with the body figure. (2) The dietary behaviors subjects performed better were 〝always〞and 〝usually〞eating breakfast everyday (84.2%), regularity of meal time (72.6%), and drinking water when thirsty (69.8%). The dietary behaviors subjects performed poor were eating too salty food (42.6%) and eating too fat food (43.6%) . (3) The children whose parents had higher education, better dietary habit, and more frequently concerned about their child's body weight and low-salt and low-fat intake had better dietary behavior. (4) The predictors of dietary behavior were body image satisfaction, parents' education level, and parents' dietary habit. According to these results, it is recommended school to provide guidance and assistance among students about positive body image and dietary behaviors, recruit parents for intervening on dietary behavior in school children, implement parent education, and make parents serve as role models for their children's healthy dietary.