A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China

Background: Breastfeeding is the basis for appropriate nutrition for infants and is strongly supported by the Ministry of Health in China. However, there are differences in infant feeding practices in different areas of the country. The aim of this study was to compare the infant feeding practices a...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qiu, Liqian, Zhao, Yun, Binns, Colin, Lee, Andy, Xie, X.
Format: Journal Article
Published: BioMed Central 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12809
_version_ 1848748179865993216
author Qiu, Liqian
Zhao, Yun
Binns, Colin
Lee, Andy
Xie, X.
author_facet Qiu, Liqian
Zhao, Yun
Binns, Colin
Lee, Andy
Xie, X.
author_sort Qiu, Liqian
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Background: Breastfeeding is the basis for appropriate nutrition for infants and is strongly supported by the Ministry of Health in China. However, there are differences in infant feeding practices in different areas of the country. The aim of this study was to compare the infant feeding practices and the prevalence of determinants of initiation and continuing to breastfeed until six months of age in city, suburb and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PRC. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study of infant feeding practices was undertaken in city, suburban and rural areas in 2004/2005. Mothers were recruited and interviewed before discharge from hospitals. A total of 1520 mothers were recruited into the study. Follow-up interviews were administered at 1, 3 and 6 months after birth to obtain details of infant feeding practices. Results: 'Any breastfeeding' rates were high before discharge at all three locations, 96.5% in city, 96.8% in suburb and 97.4% in the rural area. The 'exclusive breastfeeding' rates in the city, suburban and rural areas before discharge were 38.0%, 63.4% and 61.0% respectively. By sixth months the 'any breastfeeding' rates had declined to 62.8%, 76.9% and 83.6% and the 'exclusive breastfeeding' rates had fallen to 0.2%, 0.5% and 7.2% in city, suburb and rural areas respectively. There were differences in feeding practices between the three locations, including the use of prelacteal feeds and the introduction of supplementary feeds. Conclusion: Mothers who lived in the city were least likely to be 'exclusive breastfeeding' at discharge. At six months the city infants also had lower rates of 'any breastfeeding' and 'exclusive breastfeeding'.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T07:00:56Z
format Journal Article
id curtin-20.500.11937-12809
institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T07:00:56Z
publishDate 2008
publisher BioMed Central
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling curtin-20.500.11937-128092017-09-13T15:00:25Z A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China Qiu, Liqian Zhao, Yun Binns, Colin Lee, Andy Xie, X. Background: Breastfeeding is the basis for appropriate nutrition for infants and is strongly supported by the Ministry of Health in China. However, there are differences in infant feeding practices in different areas of the country. The aim of this study was to compare the infant feeding practices and the prevalence of determinants of initiation and continuing to breastfeed until six months of age in city, suburb and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PRC. Methods: A longitudinal cohort study of infant feeding practices was undertaken in city, suburban and rural areas in 2004/2005. Mothers were recruited and interviewed before discharge from hospitals. A total of 1520 mothers were recruited into the study. Follow-up interviews were administered at 1, 3 and 6 months after birth to obtain details of infant feeding practices. Results: 'Any breastfeeding' rates were high before discharge at all three locations, 96.5% in city, 96.8% in suburb and 97.4% in the rural area. The 'exclusive breastfeeding' rates in the city, suburban and rural areas before discharge were 38.0%, 63.4% and 61.0% respectively. By sixth months the 'any breastfeeding' rates had declined to 62.8%, 76.9% and 83.6% and the 'exclusive breastfeeding' rates had fallen to 0.2%, 0.5% and 7.2% in city, suburb and rural areas respectively. There were differences in feeding practices between the three locations, including the use of prelacteal feeds and the introduction of supplementary feeds. Conclusion: Mothers who lived in the city were least likely to be 'exclusive breastfeeding' at discharge. At six months the city infants also had lower rates of 'any breastfeeding' and 'exclusive breastfeeding'. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12809 10.1186/1746-4358-3-4 BioMed Central fulltext
spellingShingle Qiu, Liqian
Zhao, Yun
Binns, Colin
Lee, Andy
Xie, X.
A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title_full A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title_fullStr A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title_full_unstemmed A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title_short A cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in Zhejiang Province, PR China
title_sort cohort study of infant feeding practices in city, suburban and rural areas in zhejiang province, pr china
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/12809