Objective: To explore the ethnic differences on nutritional status of children under three years old, in the western areas of China and to identify the affecting factors.
Methods: 14 072 children under the age of three years and their mothers were recruited, using the proportion population sampling method in 45 counties in the western areas of China. Height and weight were used as the measurement on nutrition of children.
Results: Height and weight of children with Han, Uyghur, Tibetan and Zhuang ethnicities were all lower than the WHO standards and with differences on height and weight among them. There were also ethnic differences on the status of malnutrition. Prevalence rates of stunting were 14.7%, 20.3%, 26.9% and 26.5% for Han, Uyghur, Tibetan and Zhuang ethnicities, respectively. Prevalence rates of underweight were 6.1%, 10.7%, 6.8% and 15.5% among the Han, Uyghur, Tibetan and Zhuang ethnicities, respectively. The prevalence rates of wasting were 4.2%, 5.3%, 2.9%, 8.9%, and of under nutrition were 19.2%, 25.5%, 30.3% and 36.5% for the Han, the Uyghur, the Tibetan and the Zhuang ethnicities, respectively. When factors as family size, years of schooling of parents, family numbers, sex, age (months), mother's height and weight, ways of feeding and sources of family income etc. were adjusted, children with Uyghur, Tibetan, Zhuang and other ethnicities were still presented more malnutrition than the children with Han ethnicity.
Conclusion: There were differences on malnutrition status of children under the age of three years among the studies on different ethnicities. Undernutrition was less than nutritional status, seen in children of the Han nationality than other minority ethnicities. Ethnicity seemed to be related to differences in the nutritional status of children in western China while children of the Han nationality would be better than other minorities on nutritional status if they were in same living conditional.