To investigate the current status of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding drinking water among primary school students in rural areas of China, so as to provide scientific basis for implementing health interventions related to drinking water.

From November to December 2023, a stratified cluster random sampling method was employed to select 6 354 fourth to sixth grade primary school students in Shanxi, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Gansu for a questionnaire survey. A uniformly designed questionnaire (including basic information, drinking water-related knowledge, attitudes and practices indicators) was distributed and completed by the students themselves. The χ² test was used to analyze the differences in drinking water-related indicators among students of different gender and boarder, and Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of drinking water practices among students.

Among the indicators of drinking water knowledge, the awareness rate of appropriate daily water intake for respective student age groups was the lowest (27.90%). The awareness rate among nonresident students was significantly higher than that among boarding students (31.29%, 15.49%, χ²=132.75, P < 0.01). Regarding attitudes toward drinking water, 13.33% of the students believed that well water or tap water could be drunk directly, and 9.58% believed that going to the toilet at school was troublesome. Regarding practices, the self-reported water intake among students was 1 000 (600, 1 200) mL. The results of multifactorial Logistic regression showed that higher grades (OR=1.60, 95%CI=1.34-1.92), nonresident students (OR=1.32, 95%CI=1.15-1.52), northern region (OR=1.43, 95%CI=1.27-1.61), knowledge of appropriate daily water intake (OR=1.41, 95%CI=1.24-1.60), drinking temperature (OR=1.43, 95%CI=1.28-1.60), scientific hydration methods (OR=1.25, 95%CI=1.08-1.44), and adopting scientific hydration methods regularly (OR=1.75, 95%CI=1.50-2.04) were the independent influences on daily water intake attainment (P < 0.05).

Rural primary school students lack knowledge about healthy drinking water, have cognitive biases about safe drinking water and exhibit unhealthy drinking behavior. It is suggested that health education be carried out in combination with the characteristics of students to enhance their drinking water literacy.