We conducted in-class written surveys of fourth to eighth grade children’s eating and smoking behaviours in southwestern Ontario (n=870) and Charlottetown (n=423) in order to facilitate local school boards’ and health units’ planning of health education initiatives. Using chi-square analysis, we examined sex, grade, provincial and rural-urban differences in behaviours. No rural-urban differences emerged. While students reported few gender differences in food group consumption, more PEI students consumed French fries, snack foods, cakes and cookies, and regular soft drinks daily. Only 60.1% (379/630) of girls and 70.0% (462/660) of boys (χ = 13.8; p<0.001) ate breakfast every day, falling to 53.2% (115/216) among eighth grade girls, and 32.9% (25/76) among students who smoked. The prevalence of smoking was 4.8% (n=40) in Ontario and 8.5% (n=36) in PEI (χ = 6.8; p<0.01). Compared to non-smokers, a higher proportion of students who smoked consumed snack foods and regular soft drinks daily. The results emphasize the need to promote healthy eating behaviours and antismoking messages among school children.
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机译：我们对安大略省西南部（n = 870）和夏洛特敦（n = 423）的四年级至八年级儿童的饮食和吸烟行为进行了课堂调查，以促进地方教育委员会和卫生部门制定健康教育计划。使用卡方分析，我们检查了性别，年级，省和城乡之间的行为差异。没有出现城乡差异。尽管学生报告的食物类别消费中几乎没有性别差异，但每天有更多的PEI学生食用法式炸薯条，休闲食品，蛋糕和饼干以及常规软饮料。每天只有60.1％（379/630）的女孩和70.0％（462/660）的男孩（χ= 13.8; p <0.001）每天吃早餐，八年级女孩的这一比例降至53.2％（115/216），而32.9％ ％（25/76）在吸烟的学生中。安大略省的吸烟率为4.8％（n = 40），PEI的吸烟率为8.5％（n = 36）（χ= 6.8; p <0.01）。与不吸烟者相比，每天吸烟的学生消费零食和定期软饮的比例更高。结果强调需要在小学生中促进健康的饮食习惯和反吸烟信息。
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