Effect of Information Communication on Micronutrient Powders (or Yingyangbao) Feeding Behaviors of Different Generations of Baby Caregivers in Rural Areas

  Objective   To evaluate the status of information communication concerning micronutrient powders (MNP), or yingyangbao in Pinyin, the Chinese Romanization system, in areas covered by the Child Nutrition Improvement Project in a province in southwest China, and to investigate the effect of different communication channels and message communicated on the feeding behaviors of different generations of caregivers.

  Methods  In October 2019, 6 counties, including two counties with predominantly Han population, two counties with substantial Tibetan population, and two counties with substantial Yi population, were selected from a province in southwest China through multistage random cluster sampling. A total of 816 pairs of babies and their caregivers from 108 villages in 36 townships were enrolled for the study. The age of the babies ranged between 6 months to 24 months. A structured questionnaire concerning the demographic data of the babies and their caregivers, the communication channel of information on MNP and the message communicated, and the caregivers’ MNP feeding behaviors was designed to collect data through face-to-face interviews. Logistic regression was done to analyze the effect of MNP information communication on the feeding behaviors of caregivers from different generations.

  Results  Caregivers acquired information on MNP from village and township physicians (85.66%), surrounding populations (15.81%), and brochures and mass media (4.78%). The messages they received included the free availability of MNP (37.50%), feeding methods (49.26%), and the benefits of giving babies MNP (57.84%). Among the caregivers, 89.95% knew about the availability of MNP, 69.73% were aware of the benefits, and 84.07% actually received MNP. The correct feeding rate was 68.26% and the total effective feeding rate was 49.14%. The effective feeding rate of caregivers of the grandparents' generation (59.07%) was higher than that of the caregivers of the parents' generation (45.08%) (P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis suggested that, for caregivers of the parents' generation, information communication channel of village and township physicians (odds ratio OR=2.20, 95% confidence interval CI: 1.13-4.31) and communication messages on feeding methods (OR=1.80, 95% CI: 1.19-2.73) and benefits of MNP (OR=2.40, 95% CI: 1.61-3.57) facilitated their effective feeding behavior, while communication message concerning the free availability of MNP (OR=0.58, 95% CI: 0.38-0.87) inhibited their effective feeding behavior. For caregivers of the grandparents' generation, information communication channel of village and township physicians (OR=2.95, 95% CI: 1.12-7.76) and communication messages on the feeding methods (OR=2.86, 95% CI: 1.34-6.09) were facilitating factors of their effective feeding behaviors.

  Conclusion  The main channel of MNP information delivered to caregivers from the areas covered by the study was face-to-face explanation by doctors. The message communicated mainly involved three aspects--the administration method, the benefits and free availability of MNP. The channel and message of MNP information communnication had different effects on the feeding behaviors of caregivers of the parents' and grandparents' generations. Future research should focus on developing targeted information communication strategies according to the characteristics of populations from different generations, so as to improve the caregivers' feeding behavior.