Nutrient supplements play a key role in managing malnutrition/chronic diseases and are commonly used in the world, but few studies described the prevalence of nutrient supplement use at the national level in China. To our knowledge, this study provides the first detailed investigation of nutrient supplement use in a nationally representative sample of the Chinese population. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of the nutrient supplement use among the Chinese population aged 6 years or older in 2010–2012. A stratified multistage cluster sampling method was conducted to recruit participants from 150 surveillance sites. The demographic characteristics and information about nutrient supplement use were collected through an interview-administrative questionnaire. A total of 74,501 children and adults (excluding the pregnant women) were included in the study (mean age, 35.7 years; male, 47.0%, female, 53.5%). Only 0.71% of the participants reported using nutrient supplements in the previous month. Participants aged 6–11 years and 60 years and above, female, living in large urban, with higher education level and higher family incomes were more likely to use nutrient supplements than their counterparts (p < 0.05). The prevalence of nutrient supplement use increased with age in Chinese adults. The highest usage among the nutrient supplements was multi-vitamins and minerals with 0.37%. More females used single vitamin, multi-mineral, multi-vitamins and minerals than males (p < 0.05). The nutrient supplement use proportion was highest amongst the participants with a health problem, and the participants who had no idea about their health conditions were the least likely to use the nutrient supplements (p < 0.05). The prevalence of nutrient supplement use was low among the Chinese population in 2010–2012. Further research is required to understand the social cognition, usage reasons, dosage and consumption motivation of NS, and the relationships with health effects, to ensure that the nutrient supplements can be appropriately promoted in China.

China has experienced a rapid increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), especially in rural China. In addition to a dramatic increase in energy intake, the decrease in physical activity (PA) may be a reason. The study described the patterns and factors of physical activity and sedentary behaviors of 70,038 adults in rural China, based on data from the Chinese Nutrition and Health Survey (CNNHS) in 2010–2012. The mean working time of the employed subjects was 6.04 ± 1.3 day/week, 8.38 ± 2.2 h/day, of which 3.37 ± 2.8 h was sitting time. The occupational PA intensity was significantly relevant with occupation. The average transportation time of the rural Chinese adults was 57.9 ± 45.4 min, and 60.0% took the active transportation mode. The leisure-time PA (LTPA) participation rate was 3.8%, the LTPA time of those who had LTPA was 234.9 ± 231.3 min/week, lower participation was found in farmers and those in younger age groups, and those with lower educational and economic levels. The average domestic PA time, sedentary leisure-time, and sleeping time was 93.0 ± 72.7 min, 2.5 ± 1.4 h, and 7.9 ± 1.1 h, respectively. PA programs should be implemented in rural China, and the PA guidelines for farmers should be developed separately for the farming and non-farming seasons.

To investigate the association of sleep duration with overweight and obesity among children aged 6 to 17 years in China, 2010–2012 data from the China National Nutrition and Health Surveillance (CNHHS) were analyzed. A total of 35,414 children were recruited in the survey. Body mass index (BMI) was converted into three categories: normal weight, overweight and obesity. In multinomial logistic regression model, sleep duration was divided into four groups: very short, short, recommended and long. In restricted cubic splines (RCS), sleep duration was examined as a continuous variable in relation to overweight and obesity. In the very short and short groups, sleep duration was a risk factor for obesity after adjusting for the potential impacts of age, gender, residence, family income, leisure sedentary behavior (SB) and leisure exercise, with OR (Odds Ratio) = 3.01 (95% CI (confidence interval): 2.19–4.15) and OR = 1.24 (95% CI: 1.14–1.35), respectively. The adjusted OR of overweight for short sleep duration relative to a recommended sleep duration was 1.17(95% CI: 1.09–1.26). No significant associations of very short sleep with overweight, of long sleep duration with overweight and obesity were found. The RCS curves between sleep duration and overweight and obesity were both inverted J-shaped. To conclude, the shorter the sleep duration, the higher the risk of overweight and obesity in children. Increasing sleep duration would have a positive effect on reducing overweight and obesity rates in Chinese children.

Background Patterns of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior have important implications for child health. The purpose of the study was to describe the PA and sedentary behavior among Chinese children. Methods The study analyzed the PA and sedentary behavior status of 38,744 Chinese children aged 6–17 years, based on the data from China National Nutrition and Health Survey (CNNHS) in 2010–2012. Results Chinese children spent 61.6 min/d on school-time PA and the proportion with 60 min and over on school-time PA was 52.5%. The average transportation time was 38.5 min/d and the main mode for children was walking (50.9%), followed by taking private vehicles (19.4%), taking public transportation (16.4%) and cycling (13.3%). Approximately 70% Chinese children did domestic PA and they spent 17.2 min/d on it. Children spent 2.9 h per day on leisure-time sedentary behaviors and 85.8% of them engaged in sedentary behaviors longer than 2 h/d. The proportion of children participating in leisure-time PA was 35.4%and they performed moderate-to-vigorous PA on 3.4 days per week with average 44.9 min per day. Boys were more active in school-time PA, leisure-time PA and transportation, while girls spent more time on domestic PA and homework. More older children took active transportation and spent more time on domestic PA, leisure-time PA and sedentary behaviors compared with younger children. Children in urban area were more likely to take inactive transportation and participate in leisure-time PA, spent less time on domestic PA while more time on sedentary behaviors compared with their counterpart. Conclusions Chinese children performed little physical activity and spent long time engaging in sedentary behaviors. Their physical activity and sedentary behaviors varied by gender, age and area.

Fetal exposure to famine may have long-term consequences in adulthood. The purpose of the present study was to explore the association between famine exposure in fetal life (Chinese famine in 1959–1961) and obesity risk in adulthood. A total of 8054 subjects (3422 male, 4632 female) were recruited from the cross-sectional 2010–2012 China National Nutrition and Health Survey (CNNHS). The subjects born in 1960 and 1961 were selected as the exposed group, while the subjects born in 1963 were selected as the unexposed group. Multiple linear or logistic regression was performed to examine the association between fetal exposure to famine and risk of obesity (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), obesity, central obesity) adjusting for gender, education level, economic status, physical exercise, sedentary time, smoking, drinking, the intake of livestock and poultry and the intake of cereal and beans. Compared with the unexposed group, WC increased by 0.52 cm after adjusting the covariates (p = 0.021) and females in the exposed group had a significantly higher prevalence of central obesity with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.15 (1.01,1.31) after adjusting the confounders (p = 0.030). WC increased by 0.71 cm, 1.21 cm after adjusting the covariates compared with the unexposed group among the total subjects and the female subjects in urban areas (p = 0.021, p = 0.001). The female subjects had a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and central obesity, with ORs of 1.34 (1.04,1.71) (p = 0.022), 1.28 (1.07,1.53) (p = 0.008) respectively. Our results suggest that fetal exposure to the Chinese famine increased obesity risk in adulthood, and the association was stronger in female and urban subjects.