Effects of intergenerational feeding on the growth and development of infants aged 6-36 months: A cross sectional study

This was an original article, mainly investigated the status and effects of intergenerational feeding of infants aged 6-36 months on their growth and development. The nutrition and development status of infants and toddlers were investigated by questionnaire. Logistic regression was employed to analyze whether intergenerational feeding was an independent factor for infant stunting and malnutrition. Three hundred and ninety-seven infants were chosen to participate in this study. The skip-generation feeding rate of infants aged 6-36 months was 29.6%. There were no significant differences in developmental quotient, low weight, emaciation, growth retardation, age-specific weight, length-specific weight, and age-specific length between the intergenerational feeding group and parental feeding group. The incidence of stunting in the skip-generation feeding group was 9.26% (10/108), higher than the parental feeding group (2.86%, 8/280) (χ2=6.172, P=0.013). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that maternal education level (P=0.034) along with skip-generation feeding (P=0.005) were the main affecting factors of developmental delay in infants aged 6~36 months. We conclude that the rate of intergenerational feeding of infants aged 6 to 36 months is about 30%, and maternal education level along with skip-generation feeding were the main affecting factors of developmental delay in infants aged 6~36 months.