Objective:To investigate the types of TCM constitution in children aged 3 to 14 in urban and suburban areas of Beijing,and explore the distribution characteristics from the three dimensions of region,age and gender.
Methods:The research subjects included the children aged 3 to 6 years who were at the two kindergartens of Dongcheng District and Miyun District of Beijing from April 16,2020 to June 30,2022,and the children aged 3 to 14 years who were recruited from Pediatric Department of Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine affiliated to Capital Medical University and Children′s Hospital affiliated to the Capital Institute of Pediatrics during the same period.The self made "3  to 6 year old children′s TCM constitution scale" and "7  to 14 year old children′s TCM constitution scale" developed during the previous studies were used to investigate the type of TCM constitution in children aged 3 to 14 in urban and suburban areas of Beijing through WeChat program and on site surveys.The characteristics of TCM constitution distribution were analyzed from the three dimensions of gender,age and region.
Results:A total of 1 479 valid questionnaires were collected,including 821 male cases and 658 female cases;there were 910 children aged 3 to 6 years and 569 children aged 7 to 14 years.(1)The proportion of TCM constitution from high to low was inherited special constitution (44.9%,664/1 479),yin deficiency constitution (42.5%,629/1 479),yang heat constitution (40.6%,601/1 479),balanced constitution (29.3%,433/1 479),qi stagnation constitution (23.4%,346/1 479),qi deficiency constitution (14.3%,211/1 479),yang deficiency constitution (11.6%,172/1 479),dampness heat constitution (10.3%,152/1 479),phlegm dampness constitution (6.5%,96/1 479) and blood deficiency constitution (3.9%,22/569).(2)There were no statistical differences in the constitution of children in urban and suburban areas（P>0.05).(3)Based on age,the proportion of balanced constitution in children between 7 and 14 years old (school age) was 33.4%(190/569),higher than that in children aged 3 to 6 years (preschool) (26.7%,243/910);the proportions of yin deficiency constitution,dampness heat constitution and yang heat constitution were 29.2%(166/569),7.9%(45/569) and 32.7%(186/569),respectively (P>0.05),which were all lower than those of 3  to 6 year old children (preschool),being 50.9%（463/910）,11.8%（107/910） and 45.6%（415/910）,respectively;the differences were of statistical significance (P<0.05).(4)Based on gender,the proportion of inherited special constitution of boys was 49.2%(404/821),higher than that of girls (39.5%,260/658),the difference being statistical (P<0.05).
Conclusion:The 1 479 cases of 3  to 14 year old children in Beijing are mainly with biased constitutions,of which the proportion of inherited special constitution,yin deficiency constitution and yang heat constitution is relatively high.The distribution of TCM constitution is related to age and gender in Beijing.