Objective: Determining geographical distribution and local dietary patterns involved in being obese is useful for designing intervention strategies. Methods: We selected residents between 18 and 65 years old from 11 Chinese provinces to compare dietary patterns and BMI from the China Health and Nutrition Survey packages in 2011. We used linear and logistic regression analyses to assess the strength of association among geographic variables, the obesity problem, and dietary patterns. Results: The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in the North was 10.51% higher than that in the South. Northern dietary patterns feature a high intake of wheat and soybeans, whereas southern dietary patterns feature a high intake of rice, vegetables, meat, and poultry. The estimated coefficient of regional variables on dietary score is 1.49, the estimated coefficient of regional variables on the odds ratio for being overweight is 1.68 and for being obese is 2.04. Multivariate logistic regression including both variables of South-North areas and northern dietary patterns showed a significant correlation with being overweight or obese. Conclusions: Northern areas and their local dietary patterns are more likely to contribute to overweight and obesity. Our study provides empirical evidence for policies that target the ''obesogenic'' environment and promote opportunities for persons to access healthy dietary patterns and nutritional balance.

Background: It is believed that parents have a great influence on their children’s dietary behaviours. However, it is not clear whether parental food patterns are associated with children’s nutritional status in China, which includes a vast territory with rich, diverse cultures. The goal of this project is to systematically study the associations between parental food intake and children’s overweight and obesity in China, according to children’s ages and regional differences. Methods: Based on individual food consumption data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) package in 2011, cross-sectional studies have previously been conducted to analyse the association between different categories of food intake of parents and children. The current study extends this research by directly. Results: Our analysis results show that parental food intake is highly correlated with children’s food intake, with the estimated coefficients of most food intake categories being greater than 0.5. Furthermore, this association between parental food intake and children’s overweight and obesity is most significant in young children, but it begins to weaken in relation to children aged between 13 and 18. Additionally, the associations between parental food intake and children’s overnutrition are more significant in rural areas than they are in urban areas. Conclusions: The association between parental food intake and childhood overweight and obesity is significant, although it varies considerably according to food categories, children’s ages and area differences. These results show promise for intervening in the overnutrition of children by controlling household dietary patterns according to children’s developmental stages and regional differences.

Our goal was to examine inequality in healthcare utilization and the factors that contribute to inequality between China's floating and native populations. Based on the China Labor-force Dynamics Surveys from 2014 to 2018, which used three rounds of data, we utilized a panel probit model that included fixed effects for time and province to estimate the probability of healthcare utilization for floating and native populations. In addition, we calculated the degree of inequality in healthcare utilization by using the method of mobility-related inequality and a decomposition approach was used to explain the contribution of each factor to the inequality. The floating population utilized healthcare at a lower rate, with a 10.5% probability of visiting a hospital and a 20.9% probability of receiving hospitalized treatment. The concentration index of mobility-related inequality in healthcare utilization shows a negative coefficient of −0.137 for hospital visits and −0.356 for hospitalized treatment. Contribution decomposition shows that self-assessed health, job category and household registration account for the largest contribution to the inequality in hospital visits, contributing −0.038, 0.021 and −0.017, respectively. Age, household registration and insurance account for the largest contribution to the inequality in hospitalized treatment, contributing −0.053, 0.024 and −0.023, respectively. The floating population was less likely to use health services and faced an inequality in treatment compared with the native population.

Objective: We studied the effect of mothers' dietary patterns on their children's nutritional status. Methods: Based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) packages in 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2011, mothers' dietary quality scores were calculated using the Dietary Balance Index-07. We further explored the influence of maternal dietary patterns on children's nutritional status using a series of regression analyses with time and province fixed effects in longitudinal study, simultaneouly considering the differential impact of child's age, multigenerational co-residence, and categories of maternal food consumption. Results: Maternal food consumption was slightly higher than what is required, and each food group positively correlated between mothers and their children. Furthermore, the maternal dietary quality score on the children's energy intake was significant. The influence of maternal dietary patterns on children's nutritional intake increases gradually with the child's age, but multigenerational co-residence has the opposite effect. Furthermore, maternal food intake of cereals, vegetables, beans, and meat has a positive impact on children's nutritional intake. Conclusions: Maternal dietary patterns have a significant impact on children's nutritional status. The consumption of meat and multigenerational co-residence should be given high priority.