Peer-reviewed article
Effects of intergenerational feeding on the growth and development of infants aged 6-36 months: A cross sectional study.
Liming Chen, Jiuzhen Tian, Xiaoying Xu, Honghua Liu, Yibing Zhang ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how intergenerational feeding (care by grandparents rather than parents) affects the growth and development of infants aged 6-36 months. The researchers surveyed 397 infants and found that about 30% were cared for by grandparents. Infants in intergenerational care had higher rates of stunting (poor growth) compared to those cared for by parents. Maternal education level and intergenerational feeding were identified as key factors associated with developmental delay in young children.
Key points
- 29.6% of infants aged 6-36 months were in intergenerational (grandparent) care
- Stunting rate was 9.26% in the intergenerational feeding group versus 2.86% in the parental feeding group
- No significant differences found in developmental quotient, low weight, or emaciation between groups
- Maternal education level and skip-generation feeding were independent factors affecting developmental delay
- Study population of 397 infants, though country of origin not specified in abstract
Limitations
The document does not specify the country where this study was conducted, making it difficult to assess regional context. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causation, only associations, so it cannot determine whether intergenerational feeding causes poorer outcomes or whether other confounding factors explain the differences.
Abstract
This was an original article, mainly investigated the status and effects of intergenerational feeding of infants aged 6-36 months on their growth and development. The nutrition and development status of infants and toddlers were investigated by questionnaire. Logistic regression was employed to analyze whether intergenerational feeding was an independent factor for infant stunting and malnutrition. Three hundred and ninety-seven infants were chosen to participate in this study. The skip-generation feeding rate of infants aged 6-36 months was 29.6%. There were no significant differences in developmental quotient, low weight, emaciation, growth retardation, age-specific weight, length-specific weight, and age-specific length between the intergenerational feeding group and parental feeding group. The incidence of stunting in the skip-generation feeding group was 9.26% (10/108), higher than the parental feeding group (2.86%, 8/280) (χ2=6.172, P=0.013). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that maternal education level (P=0.034) along with skip-generation feeding (P=0.005) were the main affecting factors of developmental delay in infants aged 6~36 months. We conclude that the rate of intergenerational feeding of infants aged 6 to 36 months is about 30%, and maternal education level along with skip-generation feeding were the main affecting factors of developmental delay in infants aged 6~36 months.