Influence of dietary knowledge, attitude and preference on psychological wellbeing among middle-aged and older people in China: a longitudinal study
Abstract
BackgroundThe study aims to explore the influence of dietary knowledge, attitude and preference (KAP) on psychological wellbeing among middle-aged and older people in China.MethodsData from 12,418 middle-aged and older people (aged ≥55 years) in the 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) were analysed. A set of questions were used to assess the dietary KAP during face-to-face interviews. The psychological wellbeing score was constructed by summing up the scores of three psychological wellbeing related questions. Comparison of dietary KAP in urban and rural residents was conducted using chi-square test. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models were used to identify the association between dietary KAP and psychological wellbeing.ResultsThe mean psychological wellbeing score of the participants decreased from 10.2 in 2006 to 9.6 in 2015. Among the participants, 37.2% had low dietary knowledge score, 95.3% held positive attitude toward healthy eating, and most of them preferred vegetables (88.0%) and fruits (73.2%), and did not like fast food (90.3%), salty snacks (85.5%) and soft drinks (66.8%). Chi-square test indicated that rural residents experienced poorer dietary KAP than urban residents (all p-values < 0.01). Participants who had medium (β = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.30–0.47) or high (β = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.42–0.62) dietary knowledge score, held positive attitude toward healthy eating (β = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.41–0.76), preferred salty snacks (β = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.04–0.45), fruits (β = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.27–0.46) and vegetables (β = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.43–0.68) had significantly better psychological wellbeing.ConclusionThe middle-aged and older people with better dietary knowledge, holding positive attitude toward healthy eating, preferring salty snacks, fruits and vegetables were positively associated with psychological wellbeing. The positive associations might reflect a common underlying mechanism that these participants may have better capacity to derive pleasure from eating. Improving dietary knowledge and attitude, promoting preferring fruits and vegetables, and improving the capacity to derive pleasure from various food may help to protect the psychological wellbeing of Chinese middle-aged and older people.
Related
- Common elements-based nurturing care intervention to improve mother-infant responsive interaction and maternal psychological wellbeing in rural Pakistan: findings of a single-blinded individual randomised controlled trial.
- The role of socioeconomic status in HPV-related knowledge, attitude, vaccination willingness and preference among college males
- Pain and fifty six subsequent wellbeing and life outcomes in a multicountry longitudinal study
- The Triple Win: The Influence of Institution-Sponsored Volunteering on Faculty and Staff Wellbeing and Satisfaction.
- Adolescent Student Attitude and Perception toward Cyber Bullying and their Effect on Psychological Wellbeing
BibTeX
@article{xian2026influence,
title = {{Influence of dietary knowledge, attitude and preference on psychological wellbeing among middle-aged and older people in China: a longitudinal study}},
author = {Jinli Xian and Zumin Shi and Feng Bao},
journal = {Frontiers in Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3389/fpubh.2026.1968755},
url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1968755},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Influence of dietary knowledge, attitude and preference on psychological wellbeing among middle-aged and older people in China: a longitudinal study
AU - Jinli Xian
AU - Zumin Shi
AU - Feng Bao
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/09
JO - Frontiers in Public Health
DO - 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1968755
UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1968755
AB - BackgroundThe study aims to explore the influence of dietary knowledge, attitude and preference (KAP) on psychological wellbeing among middle-aged and older people in China.MethodsData from 12,418 middle-aged and older people (aged ≥55 years) in the 2006, 2009, 2011 and 2015 China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) were analysed. A set of questions were used to assess the dietary KAP during face-to-face interviews. The psychological wellbeing score was constructed by summing up the scores of three psychological wellbeing related questions. Comparison of dietary KAP in urban and rural residents was conducted using chi-square test. Multilevel mixed-effects linear regression models were used to identify the association between dietary KAP and psychological wellbeing.ResultsThe mean psychological wellbeing score of the participants decreased from 10.2 in 2006 to 9.6 in 2015. Among the participants, 37.2% had low dietary knowledge score, 95.3% held positive attitude toward healthy eating, and most of them preferred vegetables (88.0%) and fruits (73.2%), and did not like fast food (90.3%), salty snacks (85.5%) and soft drinks (66.8%). Chi-square test indicated that rural residents experienced poorer dietary KAP than urban residents (all p-values < 0.01). Participants who had medium (β = 0.38, 95% CI = 0.30–0.47) or high (β = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.42–0.62) dietary knowledge score, held positive attitude toward healthy eating (β = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.41–0.76), preferred salty snacks (β = 0.25, 95% CI = 0.04–0.45), fruits (β = 0.36, 95% CI = 0.27–0.46) and vegetables (β = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.43–0.68) had significantly better psychological wellbeing.ConclusionThe middle-aged and older people with better dietary knowledge, holding positive attitude toward healthy eating, preferring salty snacks, fruits and vegetables were positively associated with psychological wellbeing. The positive associations might reflect a common underlying mechanism that these participants may have better capacity to derive pleasure from eating. Improving dietary knowledge and attitude, promoting preferring fruits and vegetables, and improving the capacity to derive pleasure from various food may help to protect the psychological wellbeing of Chinese middle-aged and older people.
SN - 2296-2565
ER -