Inadequate Nutrition and Associated Factors in Children Aged 6 to 24 Months - 4 Counties, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, China, 2018.

Symptoms of malnutrition including anemia, stunting, wasting, and being underweight among children remained one of the major public health problems in poorer areas in China. More research is needed to guide interventions to improve nutrition and health among children in low-income regions. The prevalences of anemia, stunting, wasting, and being underweight were 51.9%, 25.6%, 14.6%, and 9.5%, respectively, among children aged 6 to 24 months in the poorest areas of Liangshan. Associated factors were gender, age, education level and occupation of mother, breastfeeding, and caregiver knowledge. Improving caregiver knowledge of nutrition and child feeding practices is crucial to address malnutrition among children. These findings can help more precisely understand the child health needs in poorer areas in order to develop effective interventions. They also provide evidence-based information to formulate child health promotion strategies in other countries with similar situations.