Unhealthy Eating Habits and Insomnia Symptoms are Associated with Internet Addiction in Chinese Left-Behind Children: The Gender Difference

Figures & data

Table 1 Participants’ Sociodemographic Information

Variables	n (%)
Gender
Males	1384 (43.9)
Females	1772 (56.1)
Grade
7th graders	1288 (40.8)
8th graders	1032 (32.7)
9th graders	836 (26.5)
Residence
Urban	389 (12.3)
Rural	2767 (87.7)
Siblings status
Only child	595 (18.9)
Non-only child	2561 (81.1)
Migrants status
Yes	213 (6.7)
No	2943 (93.3)
Family structure
Full	2480 (78.6)
Divorced	450 (14.3)
Other	226 (7.2)
Paternal education
Junior middle school or below	2590 (82.1)
High school or equivalent	436 (13.8)
Bachelor	86 (2.7)
Master or above	44 (1.4)
Maternal education
Junior middle school or below	2649 (83.9)
High school or equivalent	381 (12.1)
Bachelor	71 (2.2)
Master or above	55 (1.7)
Household income (yuan)
Less than 1000	405 (12.8)
1000–1999	626 (19.8)
2000–2999	655 (20.8)
3000–3999	699 (22.1)
4000–4999	282 (8.9)
5000–5999	162 (5.1)
More than 6000	327 (10.4)

Table 2 Gender Difference of Eating Habits, Insomnia Severity and IA

Variables	Males		Females		p
	n	%	n	%
Carbohydrates
Never	159	11.5	145	8.2	0.002
Sometimes	510	36.8	740	41.8
Often	415	30.0	540	30.5
Routinely	300	21.7	347	19.6
Fruits
Never	190	13.7	195	11.0	<0.001
Sometimes	712	51.4	1051	59.3
Often	320	23.1	371	20.9
Routinely	162	11.7	155	8.7
Vegetables
Never	128	9.2	115	6.5	0.008
Sometimes	504	36.4	722	40.7
Often	486	35.1	612	34.5
Routinely	266	19.2	323	18.2
Protein
Never	133	9.6	109	6.2	<0.001
Sometimes	561	40.5	981	55.4
Often	457	33.0	476	26.9
Routinely	233	16.8	206	11.6
Breakfast
Never	146	10.5	122	6.9	<0.001
Sometimes	511	36.9	873	49.3
Often	394	28.5	454	25.6
Routinely	333	24.1	323	18.2
Insomnia severity
Normal	939	67.8	963	54.3	<0.001
Mild	191	13.8	309	17.4
Moderate	129	9.3	245	13.8
Severe	125	9.0	255	14.4
Classification of IA
Non-addicted	834	60.3	1075	60.7	0.817
Addicted	550	39.7	697	39.3

Abbreviation: IA, Internet addiction.

Table 3 Partial Correlations Between Eating Habits and Insomnia Severity with IA

Variables	IA
	Males	Females
Carbohydrates	−0.046	−0.073**
Fruits	−0.085**	−0.151***
Vegetables	−0.096***	−0.129***
Protein	−0.045	−0.049*
Breakfast	−0.129***	−0.174***
Insomnia severity	0.258***	0.294***

Notes: Adjusted for age, grade, sibling status, migrants status, family structure, parental education and family income. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.

Abbreviation: IA, Internet addiction.

Table 4 Regression Model of the Associations Between Eating Habits and Insomnia Severity with IA

Variables	Males				Females
	95% CI				95% CI
	OR	LL	UL	p	OR	LL	UL	p
Model 1
Carbohydrates (reference:routinely)
Never	0.671	0.356	1.265	0.218	1.141	0.701	1.856	0.596
Sometimes	0.835	0.550	1.267	0.396	0.975	0.697	1.362	0.880
Often	0.735	0.487	1.110	0.143	0.896	0.640	1.256	0.525
Fruits (reference: routinely)
Never	2.252	1.182	4.291	0.014	2.834	1.596	5.034	<0.001
Sometimes	1.150	0.696	1.900	0.585	1.855	1.170	2.941	0.009
Often	1.247	0.722	2.153	0.429	1.197	0.727	1.971	0.481
Vegetables (reference: routinely)
Never	2.012	0.912	4.436	0.083	1.996	1.105	3.606	0.022
Sometimes	1.729	1.086	2.755	0.021	1.504	1.028	2.202	0.036
Often	1.434	0.897	2.292	0.132	1.071	0.743	1.544	0.712
Protein (reference: routinely)
Never	0.638	0.321	1.269	0.200	0.553	0.288	1.061	0.075
Sometimes	1.009	0.658	1.547	0.967	0.630	0.412	0.964	0.033
Often	1.042	0.676	1.607	0.851	0.781	0.511	1.193	0.253
Model 2
Breakfast (reference: routinely)
Never	2.046	1.360	3.078	0.001	3.729	2.395	5.807	<0.001
Sometimes	2.136	1.586	2.876	<0.001	1.914	1.452	2.523	<0.001
Often	1.603	1.170	2.195	0.003	0.991	0.725	1.355	0.956
Model 3
Insomnia severity (reference: normal)
Mild	2.028	1.476	2.787	<0.001	2.494	1.910	3.257	<0.001
Moderate	3.188	2.181	4.658	<0.001	3.910	2.912	5.249	<0.001
Severe	4.821	3.192	7.281	<0.001	4.497	3.361	6.018	<0.001

Notes: Model 1 included age, grade, sibling status, migrants status, family structure, parental education, family income, and the frequency of eating carbohydrates, fruit, vegetables, and protein. Model 2 included age, grade, sibling status, migrants status, family structure, parental education, family income, and the frequency of eating breakfast. Model 3 included age, grade, sibling status, migrants status, family structure, parental education, family income, and the insomnia severity. The reference category is “routinely” frequency for model 1 and 2, is “normal” for model 3.

Abbreviations: IA, Internet addiction; OR, odds ratio; LL, lower limit; UL, upper limit.