Yue Ai, Marsh Lauren, Zhou Huan, Medina Alexis, Luo Renfu, Shi Yaojiang, Zhang Linxiu, Kenny Kaleigh, Rozelle Scott
Center for Experimental Economics in Education (CEEE), Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, 710119, China.
West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China.
PLoS One. 2016 Apr 13;11(4):e0153385. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153385. eCollection 2016.
Development during the first two years of life is critical and has a lasting impact on a child's health. Poor infant and child nutrition can lead to deficiencies in essential micronutrients, which may cause a weakened immune system and lasting effects on children's growth and development. Recent studies in rural Shaanxi Province found an anemia prevalence of 54.3% among rural children aged six to twelve months. While new large-scale, quantitative research has begun to catalogue the extent of child malnutrition and anemia, no effort has yet been made to look more closely at the potential reasons for rural children's nutritional deficiencies through qualitative analysis. This study aims to elucidate some of the fundamental causes of poor complementary feeding practices that may lead to anemia among children in rural Shaanxi Province, China.
We interviewed sixty caregivers participating in a large survey on child health and nutrition. We conducted three waves of interviews with children's primary caregivers in seventeen rural villages within four nationally-designated poverty counties in the southern part of Shaanxi Province.
The qualitative analysis reveals that poor complementary feeding practices are common across our sample. Information gathered from our interviews suggests that complementary feeding practices are impeded by two constraints: absence of understanding topics related to infant health and nutrition under caregivers, as well as inadequate sources of information on these topics. Poverty does not appear to constrain child feeding practices.
Our results uncover lack of proper knowledge on infant and child nutrition among rural caregivers in China. This situation causes them to fail incorporating micronutrient rich foods in their children's diet. Age-appropriate complementary feeding can stimulate children's physical and cognitive development, but in its absence it leads to iron-deficiency anemia. We suggest that steps be taken to educate caregivers to improve complementary feeding of their infants and children.
生命最初两年的发育至关重要，对儿童健康有着持久影响。婴幼儿营养不良会导致必需微量营养素缺乏，这可能会削弱免疫系统，并对儿童的生长发育产生持久影响。最近在陕西省农村地区的研究发现，6至12个月大的农村儿童贫血患病率为54.3%。虽然新的大规模定量研究已开始梳理儿童营养不良和贫血的程度，但尚未有人通过定性分析更深入地探究农村儿童营养缺乏的潜在原因。本研究旨在阐明可能导致中国陕西省农村儿童贫血的不良辅食喂养习惯的一些根本原因。
我们采访了60名参与一项关于儿童健康与营养的大型调查的照料者。我们在陕西省南部四个国家级贫困县的17个农村村庄对儿童的主要照料者进行了三轮访谈。
定性分析表明，不良辅食喂养习惯在我们的样本中很常见。从我们的访谈中收集到的信息表明，辅食喂养习惯受到两个限制因素的阻碍：照料者缺乏与婴幼儿健康和营养相关主题的了解，以及关于这些主题的信息来源不足。贫困似乎并未限制儿童喂养习惯。
我们的研究结果揭示了中国农村照料者在婴幼儿营养方面缺乏正确知识。这种情况导致他们未能在孩子的饮食中纳入富含微量营养素的食物。适宜年龄的辅食喂养可以促进儿童的身体和认知发育，但缺乏这种喂养会导致缺铁性贫血。我们建议采取措施教育照料者，以改善他们对婴幼儿的辅食喂养。
