Feeding status of 0～23-month-old infants in poor rural areas of Gansu Province from 2018 to 2019

Abstract

To investigate the feeding status of infants and their feeder's feeding literacy in poor rural areas of Gansu Province. From November 2018 to January 2019, a multi-stage cluster random sampling method was used to select 1200 infant and child families aged 0 to 23 months in 40 villages of Gansu Province. A standardized questionnaire from the Chinese Nutrition Society(CNS)was used to investigate the basic situation of infant and young children's families, the situation of breastfeeding and the addition of supplementary food, and parents feeding knowledge, attitude behavior(KAP). Using chi-square test, logistic regression and other method to statistically describe and infer the collected data. A total of 1193 infants and 1165 feeders were investigated. The exclusive breastfeeding rate of infants and young children under the age of 6 months was 39. 02%. The rate of continuous breastfeeding at 1 year old was 37. 40%, and the rate of continuous breastfeeding at 2 years old was 20. 88%, the difference between the two was significant(χ~2=13. 498, P<0. 01). The supplementary food supplement rate of infants and children over 6 months was 94. 37%, the highest supplementary supplement for cereals and potatoes(98. 01%), and the lowest percentage for beans and nuts(23. 51%), and the distribution of supplementary foods at different ages was significantly different(χ~2=52. 336, P<0. 01). The qualification rate of infants and young children's minimum dietary diversity was 64. 13%, the minimum eating frequency qualification rate was 70. 64%, the minimum acceptable dietary intake qualification rate was 42. 16%, and the qualification rates of various indicators were significantly different between different months(χ~2=85. 421, P<0. 01;χ~2=19. 66, P<0. 01; χ~2=17. 261, P<0. 01). The KAP score passing rate of infant caregivers was 37. 34%, and there was a statistical difference between the age of infants and young children, the education level and the sex of the caregiver(χ~2=9. 411, P<0. 05;χ~2=25. 901, P<0. 01;χ~2=3. 874, P<0. 05). Taking low-month-old infants and young children, low education and male caregivers as controls, infants and young children aged over 12 months, high school education and female caregivers were the protective factors of KAP scores(P<0. 05). The problems of infant breastfeeding and supplementary feeding in poor rural areas of Gansu Province were serious, and the knowledge and skills of raising people were scarce, which were related to the age of infants and young children, the education and the sex of raising people.