Effects of parental feeding practices on children’s anemia in plateau area

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effects of parental feeding practices on anemia in children aged 0–6 years in the minority area of the plateau, and to provide evidence for anemia intervention. Methods A total of 1 726 children aged 0-6 years in 4 counties of Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture were selected by stratified random cluster sampling to measure hemoglobin level. Parental feeding practices were evaluated. Results The anemia prevalence rate among children aged 0-6 years was 50.3%. The prevalence of anemia was higher in those with younger age, Tibetan ethnic, rural residence, low parents’ education level and family income ( χ 2 = 156.95, 899.51, 148.17, 8.18,16.36, 11.03, P <0.05). Parentl awareness rates on feeding knowledge were 10.0% - 53.7%. The report rates of distraction and force-feeding were 51.4% and 36.1%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that parents’ incorrect feeding knowledge and compulsive feeding behaviors were positively associated with anemia in children ( P < 0.05). Conclusion Improvement of parents’ health literacy and feeding behavior is an important intervention to reduce anemia in children aged 0-6 years. 【摘要】 目的 探讨髙原少数民族地区儿童喂养人的喂养认知及行为对 0~6 岁儿童贫血发生的影响,为制定降低儿童贫 血患病率干预措施提供依据。 方法 采用分层随机整群抽样方法,抽取甘南藏族自治州 4 个县共 1 726名 0~6岁儿童进 行血红蛋白测定和喂养认知行为等相关调査。 结果 0~6岁儿童贫血患病率为 50.3%。低月龄、藏族、农村、父母学历及 家庭收人低者贫血患病率较髙( χ 2 值分别为 156.95, 899.51,148.17, 8.18,16.36, 11.03, P 值均<0.05)。家长喂养知识知晓 率为 10.0%~53.7%。喂饭时分散孩子注意力、强迫进食的报告率分别为 51.4%及36.1%。二分类 Logistic 回归结果显示, 家长错误的喂养认知及强迫进食行为与儿童贫血发生正相关（ P 值均<0.05)。 结论 家长健康素养和喂养行为的改善是 降低 0~6岁儿童贫血发生的重要干预措施。