[Investigation on the dietary iron intake of infants from four month-old to one year-old in Shunyi District of Beijing].
OBJECTIVE
To understand the present status of dietary iron intake of infants from 4 to 12 month-old in urban and rural areas of Shunyi District of Beijing, and to provide scientific basis for their supplementary foods.


METHODS
Two hundred and sixty-six infants were selected and investigated with a 3-day (72h) dietary record questionary.


RESULTS
The average dietary iron intake of 4 - 5 month-old infants has achieved to the Dietary Reference Intakes, and no significant difference was observed between the intakes in urban and rural areas (P > 0.05). The proportion of infants whose dietary iron intake was higher than the Adequate Intakes (AI) of iron was just 19.8% among the studied infants in rural and 36. 9% in urban areas (P < 0.01). There was no significant difference on breastfeeding rates in rural and urban groups (P > 0.05). The main dietary iron sources were from cereals, fruits, eggs, vegetables and meat.


CONCLUSIONS
The dietary iron intake of 6 - 12 month-old infants in Shunyi was significantly insufficient. Encouraging mothers to go on fully breastfeeding for at least 6 months, as well as giving supplementary foods rich in iron at the right time according to the state of infants.
Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing 100191, China. gaopeng8855.student@sina.com
Peng
P
Gao
Junbo
J
Wang
Yongjin
Y
Li
Heping
H
Liang
Dongwan
D
Chen
Jinchang
J
Lv
Xiufeng
X
Liu
Guoxin
G
Zhen
Ruixia
R
Wang
Xueyuan
X
Sun
Xiaotao
X
Liu
Yan
Y
Xu
Ligang
L
Nie
D001942:Breast Feeding; D002681:China; D015930:Diet Records; D002523:Edible Grain; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D019266:Iron, Dietary; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population; D014675:Vegetables
D019266:Iron, Dietary