Nutritional Status And Its Influencing Factors Analysis Of Children Under Five Years Old In Project Counties Of Chongqing And Sichuan

Objective: To understand the nutritional status and its influencingfactors of children under five years old in project counties of Chongqingand Sichuan, so as to provide reference information and scientific evidencefor establishing appropriate measures for prevention and health care ofchildren by maternal and child health institutions in rural areas ofChongqing and Sichuan.Methods: The non-probability sampling method was used to select thechildren under five years old and their caretakers in rural areas from sixproject counties in Chongqing and Sichuan. The parents were investigatedby face-to-face questionnaire, the height (length) and weight of childrenwere examined, the hemoglobin of6~23months old children wasdetermined, the nutrition status of children was evaluated by internationalstandard, and logistic regression analysis was used to understand theinfluencing factors of nutrition status.Results: Totally1089caretakers of children under five years old were investigated, most of them were female (89.3%),20~39years old (60.9%),Han nationality (99.8%), educational background were primary school orjunior middle school (82.1%),642(59.0%) caretakers were the children’smother, and97.2%(623/641) of mothers had done antenatal examinationduring pregnancy, the number of antenatal examination not less than5times was53.1%(331/623),77.6%(482/621) mothers did the first timeantenatal examination at1~3months during pregnancy, and the mediannet per capita income of their family was2500yuan (RMB) in2009. Forthe youngest children in the families,1024children (94.0%) was the first orsecond child in their families, the hospital delivery rate was86.6%(933/1077), the low birth weight rate was2.5%(22/892).24hour dietaryreview shows that the breastfeeding rate of children under6months oldwas90.5%(95/105),87.2%(157/180) of the children full after6monthsstarted to add auxiliary food, the major diets of children from12to59months old was grains (97.6%), meat(78.2%), vegetables and fruit (92.9%).The vaccination rates of children was98.6%(982/996), the children whooften wash their hands before meals was81.3%(883/1086), during the lasttwo weeks,213children (19.6%) had diarrhea and264children (24.2%)had cough. A total of1177children under five years old were investigated,the rates of stunting, underweight and wasting were17.4%(200/1152),4.7%(55/1173) and2.2%(25/1148), respectively. The malnutrition ratewas19.6%(231/1177). The detection rate of low hemoglobin among6~35 months old children was38.4%(272/709). Multiariable variable logisticregression analysis results showed that male sex, the earlier order of birth,low birth weight, not often wash hands before a meal, low level ofeducational background, late time of the first antenatal examination, at lowlevel of medical institution of the first antenatal examination, born at homeand not a hygienic toilet are the risk factors of malnutrition for children;male sex and poor family economic condition are the risk factors of lowhemoglobin.Conclusion: The malnutrition status of children under five years oldin rural areas of Chongqing and Sichuan is not optimistic, the nutrition andhealth care cognitive level of caretakers is generally low, and somecomprehensive interventions should be implemented to promote children’sgrowth and development and improve the nutrition level of children.