Nutritional status, feeding practice and incidence of infectious diseases among children aged 6 to 18 months in northern mountainous Vietnam

To assess the prevalence of undernutrition, incidence of infectious diseases and the situation of feeding practices to determine the risk factors for undernutrition among children aged 6 to 18 months in rural Vietnam. Design : A cross-sectional study was conducted among one hundred eighty-eight mother-child pairs in Bac Giang, Vietnam. Weight and height of the children were measured and referred to data from the WHO/CDC/NCHS. Incidence of infectious diseases was diagnosed based on the WHO Recommended Surveillance Standards. Data on socio-demographic variables and feeding practices were obtained through a structured questionnaire. Result : The prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting was 19.7%, 23.4% and 5.3%, respectively. The incidence of diarrhea and acute respiratory infections (ARIs) during the last 14 days of the interview was 12.2% and 20.2%, respectively. Although 99% of the children were breastfed, the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 4 mo was 21.3%. Non-exclusive breastfeeding in the first 4 month (OR 3.95, p=0.025) and low birth weight (OR 4.38, p=0.009) were associated with underweight in the children, while incidence of infectious disease was not (OR 1.16, p=0.734). Conclusion : Undernutrition is highly prevalent in the study site and non-exclusive breast feeding is one of the risk factors.