An infant and child feeding index is associated with child nutritional status in rural China

Some researchers have developed child feeding indices to summarize child feeding practices so that they can compare child feeding practices across countries and monitor changes over time within a given country.

An adapted version of the infant and child feeding index (ICFI) developed by Ruel and Menon was used to examine its association with nutritional status of infants living in a rural community in China.

A cross-sectional survey of 501 children aged 6-11 mo was conducted with their mothers in 8 townships between May 2006 and March 2007. ICFI was developed based on 24-h dietary recall and food frequency information. The associations between ICFI and anthropometric indices including length-for-age (LAZ), weight-for-age (WAZ), and weight-for-length (WLZ) Z-scores were examined separately. General linear regression models were used to adjust for potential confounders including the children's, parents' and households' sociodemographic characteristics.

The ICFI was associated with both WAZ (adjusted WAZ means: 0.39, 0.47, and 0.54 for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tercile, respectively, P<0.05) and WLZ (adjusted WLZ means: 0.47, 0.74, and 0.79 for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd tercile, respectively, P<0.05). But it was not associated with children's LAZ. Among the components of ICFI, dietary diversity, meal frequency and bottlefeeding were positively associated with the children's anthropometric indices.

ICFI and its components could be used to assess effect of complementary feeding practices on child growth.