[Childcare and home education in families of female nurses in the People's Republic of China--survey of 15 hospitals in 5 areas].
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual conditions of childcare and home education among families of female nurses in the P. R. of China.


METHODS
The subjects were nurses from 15 hospitals in 3 provinces and 2 autonomous areas. They were surveyed by questionnaire regarding their childcare and home education. It was distributed by the Ministry of Health in the P. R. of China and data were collected between February and April in 1996.


RESULTS
A total of 4284 (80.0%) questionnaires were collected. 1. The age of the subjects was between 18 and 62 years old with a mean of 32.9 +/- 9.0 (SD) years 71.4% of them had husbands, whose ages were between 23 and 71 years old, the mean age being 38.3 +/- 8.4 (SD) years. The family types were 63.2% nuclear family and 33.7% extended family, with 3.1% being single. 65.1% of the subjects had children, whose mean number was 1.1 +/- 0.4 (SD). Firstborn children were 49.9% girls and 50.1% boys. 2. The most popular method of infant nutrition was breast-feeding, utilized by 60.1%. The highest rate (67.8%) was in the age group of 25 to 29 years old (P < 0.01). 3. The practice of "swaddling" (wrapping the child so as not to allow movement) was more common in the over 40 year old age group than the under 40 year old group (P < 0.01). Swaddling-practice showed significant differences by area. 4. The rates for children who helped with housework were 50.3% for girls and 46.7% for boys. 5. A number of children between 7 and 18 years old were studying English privately. 6. The greatest expectation of the subjects, for their children aged between 7 and 18 years old, was to study.


CONCLUSIONS
1. Infant nutrition showed significant differences between generations, and swaddling-practice differed with the generation and the area. 2. Although girls help their parents more than boys in Japan, boys and girls equally helped their parents in the P. R. of China. 3. Concerning the topics of private learning and parents expectations, the results were similar to those in Japan.
Yoshida
Y
Y
College of Health Professions, Toho University.
Kajihara
Y
Y
Iwaki
K
K
Matsuzaki
E
E
Yamashiro
H
H
Otsuka
K
K
Kawayama
M
M
Matsumoto
A
A
Sato
K
K
Uchiyama
M
M
Inoue
K
K
Kajiyama
Y
Y
Goto
S
S
Gong
Y
Y
Miao
W
W
Fang
T
T
Zheng
Y
Y
Li
G
G
Yang
Z
Z
Li
X
X
Zhang
J J
JJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care / Q000639:trends; D002668:Child Rearing / Q000639:trends*; D002681:China; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009726:Nurses; D014931:Women, Working