A Practice Study On Use Of Feeding Index For Evaluation On Growth Of Rural Infant And Young Children

Objective:This study was designed to investigate the application of Feeding Index Composite on the growth of infants and young children from a rural area.Methods:Basing on the Feeding Index Composite,which was set up by The Nutrition and Food Safety Institute of China Disease Control and Prevention Center,the Feeding Index scores of 206 infants were evaluated,which are 6-24 months old in Meibu Town,Linyi city.On the basis of WHO Reference Standard,the Z-scores(WHZ,Weight for Height Z-score;HAZ,Height for Age Z-score;WAZ,Weight for Age Z-score;BAZ,BMI for Age;HCZ,Height for Head circumference Z-score) of the infants group were calculated,and the relationship between the Feeding Index score and the Z-scores were analyzed.The families' income, cost for infants' food,education and occupation of parents,and other factors were investigated and analyzed.Results:The average values of these children's Feeding Index scores were(8.26±1.90),which were higher than that(5.5±2.6) of the children from national second-class rural areas(P＜0.05).The overall Feeding Index scores were positively associated with the children's HAZ(P＜0.05).The HAZ,WAZ,HCZ between the children who were with higher Feeding Index scores(Feeding Index=70%of total scores) and the children with lower Feeding Index scores were statistically different(P＜0.05).The general feeding qualified rate of these children is 72.33%,higher than that(20.8%) of the children in the national second-class rural areas(P＜0.05).The Feeding Index scores were positively correlated with the grade of the education of their parents,the Correlation Coefficient was 0.167(P=0.012),but the scores uncorrelated with the cost of the infants' food.The cost on children's food was positively correlated with the children's HAZ,WAZ and HCZ,the Correlation Coefficients were 0.230,0.175,0.143 and the P value was 0.01, 0.013,0.043,respectively;but uncorrelated with WHZ,BAZ(P＞0.05).Conclusion:The Feeding Index Composite can reflect the growth situation of these infants.It also can be used in the comprehensive evaluation on the feeding method for infants and young children. But the validity of its application needs to be testified.