OBJECTIVETo evaluate the current feeding status of infants and young children under 2 years old in rural areas of Hubei province.

METHODSThe study was conducted by cluster random sampling from September 2009 to march 2010. The data on breastfeeding and complementary food supplement of the 1 197 infants and young children aged 0-23 months in 8 counties of Hubei province were collected through questionnaires. The feeding status was analyzed according to the WHO 2008 edition of Indicators for assessing infant and young child feeding practices.

RESULTSA total of 1 197 children aged 0-23 months were investigated. The rate of ever breastfeeding of children aged 0-23 months reached up to 93.9% (1 124/1 197), while the percentage of early initiation of breastfeeding was only 22.0% (263/1 197). The rates of exclusive breastfeeding under 6 months, continued breastfeeding for 1 year, and continued breastfeeding for 2 years were 72.1% (277/384), 17.0% (26/153) and 4.9% (7/144), respectively. The median time of giving complementary food was the 6th month and the weaning time was the 9th month. The rate of complementary food supplemented from 6th-8th month in time was 61.8% (444/718) . The rates of minimum dietary diversity, minimum meal frequency, minimum acceptable diet, and consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods among children aged 6-23 months were 61.7% (502/813), 81.5% (663/813), 54.4% (442/813) and 50.1% (407/813), respectively.

CONCLUSIONLate initiation of breastfeeding, non-continued breastfeeding, giving complementary food too early or too late, inadequate category and frequency of complementary food, and the low rate of consumption of iron-rich or iron-fortified foods were the main issues to be concerned on infant feeding in rural areas of Hubei province.