Growth and development of children and related influencing factors: a cross-sectional study of the families with children aged 0-6 years in Jiangsu Province / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVES@#To investigate the growth and development of children aged 0-6 years in Jiangsu Province of China and the effects of family factors on the children's growth and development.@*METHODS@#The stratified random sampling method was used to select 2 004 families with children aged 0-6 years of Jiangsu Province. A questionnaire survey on nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behavior was performed for the main caregivers. The Z-score method was used to evaluate nutritional status. The ordinal polytomous logistic regression analysis model was used to investigate the influencing factors for nutritional status.@*RESULTS@#A total of 2 290 questionnaires were distributed, among which 2 004 valid questionnaires were collected (87.51%). The mean age of the children was (28±14) months, and there were 1 105 boys (55.14%) and 899 girls (44.86%). The primary caregivers were mostly parents (1 867 families, 93.16%), and the caregivers of 1 466 families (73.15%) had a university/college degree. Most families had an annual income of 50 000-100 000 yuan/year or 100 000-200 000 yuan/year, accounting for 32.88% and 34.23%, respectively. The results of Z-score showed the growth retardation rates of 1.45% (16/1 105) in boys and 1.78% (16/899) in girls, the underweight rates of 0.54% (6/1 105) in boys and 0.67% (6/899) in girls, the emaciation rates of 1.36% (15/1 105) in boys and 2.00% (18/899) in girls, and the obesity rates of 8.78% (97/1 105) in boys and 10.12% (91/899) in girls, respectively. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that a higher annual family income and a higher nutrition knowledge level of caregiver were beneficial to the growth and development of children (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Children aged 0-6 years in Jiangsu Province have a good status of growth and development but a relatively high obesity rate, and therefore, the monitoring of obesity should be taken seriously. Family economic status and the level of nutritional knowledge of caregivers have a significant impact on children's growth and development.