Complementary feeding with prepackaged and homemade food among 0-12 months-old infants in China: a cross-sectional study

Objective To examine the status of first complementary feeding among infants in China.Methods Data on complementary feeding with commercially available food and homemade food in 0-12 months-old infants were extracted from the study on Maternal and Infant Nutrition conducted during 2011-2012 in 8 municipalities in China.The difference in the time of first complementary feeding was analyzed with chi-square test.Results Of the 684 infants having complementary feeding,433 (34.78%)were supplied with commercially available food and 812 (65.22%)with homemade complementary food.No significant difference was observed in the time of first complementary feeding between the infants with different type of complementary food.The most frequently reported prepackaged food used in the first complementary feeding was rice flour for infants (70.90%);while the top five homemade food for the first complementary feeding were egg yolk (19.33%),rice gruel (14.78%),rice flour (11.45%),egg (11.08%),and rice paste(7.39%).Conclusion Most parents in China could reasonably supply supplementary food to their infants and young children in accordance with the guidelines recommended but there were a few parents doing complementary feeding too early or too late and very few parents supplying various complementary food in unreasonable order.