PAK. J. FOOD SCI., 26(1), 2016: 01-09 ISSN: 2226-5899 Pakistan Journal of Food Sciences (2016), Volume 26, Issue 1, Page(s): 01-09 1 Evaluation and comparison of dietary habits of rural and urban areas school children; A case study Rashida Perveen 1 , Zainab Ashiq 1 , Shagufta Naz 2 , Muhammad Sibt-e-Abbas 3 1 Department of Home Economics, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan 2 Department of Home Economics, Lahore College for Women University, Lahore, Pakistan 3 National Institute of Food Science and Technology, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad-38040, Pakistan * Corresponding author: rashidaparveenft@yahoo.com ABSTRACT Habits formed in early life are the major determinant of food choice later in life. Accordingly, this study was designed to assess and compare the dietary habits of children (5-9 years) from rural and urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan. The anthropometric measurements were also taken which included weight, height and then compared with BMI percentiles. Intake of breakfast was assessed by taking 24 hour dietary recall method. Independent t-test was used to compare the dietary habits of rural and urban areas children. The results showed that majority students of rural and urban were healthy but 36.7% students of rural school were underweight whereas 30% students of urban school were at risk of overweight. The trend of skipping breakfast was more prevalent amongst urban respondents. The intake of junk food which include chocolate, soft drink and instant noodle; macaroni was more common amongst urban children than rural students because of the availability of fast food in urban area. In conclusion, dietary habits of children are affected by parent’s education, geographical area, availability, affordability, media and taste of food. Furthermore, it is recommended that nutrition education should be provided to children to improve their dietary habits to ensure adequate growth and development. Keywords: Dietary habits, rural school, urban school, children INTRODUCTION Food preferences and eating patterns of children are developed early in life. To maintain a healthy weight as well as to provide protection against premature mortality and chronic diseases, it is important that eating habits should be healthy (Dudley, Cotton, & Peralta, 2015). The active growing phase of childhood is school age and it signifies a dynamic period of mental development as well as physical growth of the child. The dietary habits of children are important to assess not only because it affects the health but it also plays an important role in cognitive development of children and their performance at school (Abdelaziz, Youssef, Sedrak, &Labib, 2015; Belot, James, & Nolen, 2013).Childhood is the most important phase of life as the eating patterns are established in this age. Healthy and regular diet is a major factor in the promotion and maintenance of good health throughout life (Erjavec et al., 2012). According to Simeon et al. (2015), it is required to assess the nutritional status of children in urban and rural areasbecause it is an important indicatorin the progression of child’s growth and development. Anwer and Awan (2003) investigated that in Pakistan, urban and rural areas children have significant difference amongthem as well as the difference among male and female children in terms of lifestyle and economic status. Many researchers have showed that due to presence of health services, availability of food and possibility of employment opportunities, the children of urban area have good nutritional status than rural area children (Smith et al., 2005).There are many factors that affect the dietary habits and eating patterns of children. Caregiver is one of those factors that affect the children’s dietary habits. If dietary habits of caregiver are poor then they need to improve their dietary habits for their children (Black and Hurley, 2007). According to San Juan (2006) the eating patterns are established early in life. The younger children’s diet is almost similar to their parents than other children’s diet. Similarly, Abideen, & Saleem