Investigation On Feeding And Nutrition Status Of Children Aged 6~23 Months In Poor Areas Of Anhui Province

Objective To investigate the feeding and nutrition status among the children aged 6~23 months in poor areas of Anhui Province,and to provide data support for the development and implementation of nutrition improvement program for children in poor areas.Methods A total of 2170 children aged 6~23 months were selected by multistage sampling,probability-proportional-to-size sampling and random equidistant sampling or cluster sampling method.Physical measurement and hemoglobin test were conducted among all selected children and their caregivers were administered a questionnaire face-to-face.The main contents of the questionnaire were general demographic data,caregivers’ knowledge related feeding,feeding behavior and so on.Feeding knowledge awareness and six core indexes of WHO indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices were used to evaluate infant feeding status.The nutritional status of children was evaluated and classified according to the technical specification for the management of nutritional diseases in children.Epidata3.1 was used for data entry and SPSS17.0 for data statistics and analysis.Independent-samples T test and variance analysis were used to compare the mean differences.The chi-square test was used to assess the association between two qualitative variables wherever appropriate.The logistic regression analysis was used for multi-variate analysis.Results 1.The average score of feeding knowledge was 49.6% and the awareness rate was 48.7%,which was related to the gender and age of the children,the education and occupation of caregivers.2.The proportion of children continued breastfeeding at 1 year was 19.4%,2 year was 3.4%,6~ 23 months was 23.5%.The proportion of children received solid,semi-solid or soft foods was 90.1%.The highest frequency of foods groups received in the past 24 hours were grains,roots and tubers,and the average number of foods groups receive was 4.24.3.The average rate of the minimum dietary diversity between 6~ 23 months was68.7%,the minimum meal frequency was 85.9%,and the acceptable diet was 39.9%.There were statistically significant association between the acceptable diet and age of the children,whether having diarrhea in the past two weeks,effective use of Yingyangbao,the educational level of caregivers.4.The detection rate of children malnutrition was 3.2%,the overweight rate was15.3%,and the prevalence of nutritional anemia was 17.9%.The average body length,body weight and hemoglobin value of children with acceptable diet were higher than those of unacceptable children.The prevalence of nutritional anemia of children with the minimum dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency were lower than that of unqualified children.Conclusion In the poor areas of Anhui Province,the awareness rate of feeding knowledge was 48.7%,the acceptable diet was 39.9%,the detection rate of malnutrition was 3.2%,and the prevalence of nutritional anemia was 17.9%.The feeding status of infants was in the middle level in China,and the nutrition status was significantly improved.The age of children,breastfeeding,education background of caregiver,diarrhea in the past two weeks,and effective use of Yingyangbao were the influencing factors for the acceptable diet rate.Nutritional status was related to the quality of supplementary food addition.It is necessary to strengthen the propaganda of scientific feeding knowledge,improve feeding behavior and nutritional status,and promote the healthy growth of children while providing supplementary nutritional supplements for them.