Objective  To analyze eating behavior problems among children aged 0 − 6 in China through meta-analysis, so as to provide theoretical evidence for intervention of eating behavior problems among preschool children.

Methods  Literatures on eating behavior problems among children aged 0 − 6 in China were searched from PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Data, VIP database and China Biomedical Literature Service System (CBM) from its establishment to June 2022. R 4.1.0 was used for meta-analysis.

Results  Thirty-five studies with 43 105 participants were involved. Random-effect model was used for meta-analysis to calculate the detection rate of eating behavior problems among children aged 0 − 6 in China, and the detection rate was 60.90% (95% CI: 52.82 − 68.42). The subgroup analysis showed no significant difference in the detection rate of eating behavior problems between boys and girls (P > 0.05). Detection rates of eating behavior problems among children of different age groups were different (P < 0.05). The detection rate of eating behavior problems among children from western China and living in rural areas were significantly higher than those among children from eastern China and living in urban areas (P < 0.05). The rates reported during 2011 − 2015 were higher than those reported during 2016 − 2020 (P < 0.05), and they were higher in the sampling survey than those in the general survey too (P < 0.05). There were also significant differences in the detection rates of eight common eating behavior problems among preschool children (P < 0.05).

Conclusion Higher overall detection rates of eating behavior problems among children aged 0 − 6 since 2011 should be one of the key concerns in the field of children’s health.