Status of anemia and its association with feeding patterns in infants and toddlers aged 6 - 24 months in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture

Abstract

Objective To investigate the anemia status of infantsand toddlers aged 6 - 24 months in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, and to comprehensively evaluate the differences in feeding behaviors between anaemic and normal children through the infant and child feeding index (ICFI) and feeding knowledge scores, so as to provide reference for the guidance of infants and young children feeding in ethnic minority areas and the promotion of children's growth and development. Methods Taking infants and young children aged 6 - 24 months in Linxia Prefecture as the study subjects, a multi-stage random sampling method was used to select children who met the requirements from 5 townships and 5 villages in 7 counties in 2019 and 2020.Periphral blood samples were collected to test the level of hemoglobin, so as to determine the anemia status.Meanwhile, physical examination was performed and a questionnaire survey of guardians was conducted to analyze the association betweenanaemia and feeding patterns. Results A total of 3 901 infants and children were included in this study, of whom 729 (18.70%) were anaemic, with a mean ICFI score of 12.56±2.70 and a mean feeding knowledge score of 1.97±1.01.There was no statistically significant association of low feeding knowledge score and low ICFI with anaemia after adjusting for confounders (P＞0.05), Unqualified meat addition in ICFI was a risk factor for anaemia (OR=1.355, P=0.042), while non-bottle feeding in the past 24 hours (OR=0.762, P=0.021), and breastfeeding in the past 24 hours of infants and toddlers aged 12 - 24 months (OR=0.228, P=0.018) were protective factor for anemia in infants and toddlers aged 12 - 24 months. Conclusions The average prevalence of anemia in infants and toddlers aged 6 - 24 months in Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Gansu Province is high, but the level of infant feeding and the level of feeding knowledge of caregivers are low.Early adherence to breastfeeding, timely addition of supplementary food, and more comsumpution of meat for children are conducive to preventing anemia.

Keywords

ethnic minority areas / infant feeding / feeding index / anemic