Micronutrients supplementation and infant feeding practices in the poor rural areas of Shaanxi province:status and correlates

Objective To examine the status and correlates of infant feeding practices in poor rural areas of Shaanxi province.Methods By using a structural questionnaire,a survey on infant feeding practices and participation in prenatal and postnatal care management was conducted among primary caregivers of 1 765 infants aged 6-12 months randomly selected from poor areas of Qinba mountainous region of southern Shaanxi province.Logistic model was adopted to analyze correlates of micronutrients supplementation and infants feeding practices.Results Nutrition education among pregnant and puerperal women could promote micronutrients supplementation of the infants (odds ratioOR=1.413,P<0.01),but there were no significant correlations between nutrition education and whether breastfeeding and complementary feeding being consistent with the criterion of World Health Organization.Child with low birth weight,being the first child,and with a mother being not the primary caregiver were risk factors of infant breastfeeding (P<0.01 for all).The risk factors of complementary feeding behavior were young age of an infant,being the first child,and with a mother having the education less than 9 years (P<0.01 for all).Conclusion The prenatal and postnatal care and children's early health services (especially nutrition knowledge and feeding practices)need to be improved to address the problems in infants feeding practices and infants health in poor rural areas of Shaanxi province.