Nutritional status, feeding practice and incidence of infectious diseases among children aged 6 to 18 months in northern mountainous Vietnam

To assess the prevalence of undernutrition, incidence of infectious
diseases and the situation of feeding practices to determine the risk factors for undernutrition
among children aged 6 to 18 months in rural Vietnam. Design : A cross-sectional study
was conducted among one hundred eighty-eight mother-child pairs in Bac Giang, Vietnam.
Weight and height of the children were measured and referred to data from the
WHO/CDC/NCHS. Incidence of infectious diseases was diagnosed based on the WHO Recommended
Surveillance Standards. Data on socio-demographic variables and feeding
practices were obtained through a structured questionnaire. Result : The prevalence of
underweight, stunting and wasting was 19.7%, 23.4% and 5.3%, respectively. The incidence
of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) during the last 14 days of the interview
was 12.2% and 20.2%, respectively. Although 99% of the children were breastfed, the
prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 4 mo was 21.3%. Non-exclusive breastfeeding
in the first 4 month (OR 3.95, p=0.025) and low birth weight (OR 4.38, p=0.009)
were associated with underweight in the children, while incidence of infectious disease
was not (OR 1.16, p=0.734). Conclusion : Undernutrition is highly prevalent in the study
site and non-exclusive breast feeding is one of the risk factors.

The journal of medical investigation : http://medical.med.tokushima-u.ac.jp/jmi/index.html