Ying Yang Bao: Improving Complementary Feeding for Chinese Infants in Poor Regions

Ying Yang Bao (YYB), a complementary food supplement, has helped to rapidly improve the nutrition status of infants and young children in poor rural regions in China. The first YYB study was performed in 2001 by the International Life Sciences Institute, the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Nestlé. In 2008, the establishment of national standards for complementary food supplements stimulated implementation of about 15 nutrition intervention projects in poor rural counties in which YYB was applied to infants and young children as home fortification for complementary feeding. Data were accumulated in different studies and showed that YYB enhanced the growth of infants with respect to both anthropometry and cognition, and decreased anemia prevalence significantly in infants aged 6-24 months. The Chinese government has launched a project named Improving Children's Nutrition in Poor Rural Regions in 2012. The project has covered more than 4 million infants aged 6-24 months in 341 counties in 21 provinces in western and middle regions by the end of 2015. This nutrition intervention in early life is rather an opportunity for a better later life. The YYB program in China might present an example for developing countries aiming to improve nutrition in early life.