ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: In China, less than one third of infants under 6 months of age are being exclusively breastfed. Maternal rural-to-urban migration contributes to these low rates of breastfeeding practices. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of breastfeeding practices and associated factors among rural-to-urban migrant children and local children with infants aged 0-12 months in China, 2018. METHODS: Data were collected from a population-based cross-sectional survey in 2018 that included 6995 infants from eight urban areas (four metropolis and four medium sized/small cities) in China. The prevalence of breastfeeding practices was calculated using a 24-h recall questionnaire for all infants aged under 12 months. Logistic regression was conducted to examine the association between the prevalence of breastfeeding practices and maternal migrant status, after adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, mother-infant health information and supportive information. For exclusive breastfeeding, we further analyzed its association with maternal rural-to-urban migration, stratified by maternal education level, maternal resident place and maternal ethnicity, respectively. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of ever breastfeeding, exclusive breastfeeding, predominant breastfeeding and age-appropriate breastfeeding (exclusive breastfeeding of infants under 6 months of age and complementary feeding from six to 12 months of age) was 97.51, 29.84, 59.89 and 45.07%, respectively. Rural-to-urban migrant children were less likely to be exclusively breastfed compared to local children (AOR 0.81, 95% CI 0.68, 0.95). Stratified by different sociodemographic variables, a negative association between exclusive breastfeeding and rural-to-urban migration was only found in the group with high education level, in the group living in metropolis and in the group of minorities, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The overall prevalence of breastfeeding practices was low in both rural-to-urban migrant children and local children. Besides common strategies, special approaches should be provided for urban highly educated migrants.
Subject(s)
Breast Feeding/psychology , Mothers/psychology , Population Dynamics , Adult , China , Cross-Sectional Studies , Educational Status , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Mothers/education , Mothers/statistics & numerical data , Young AdultABSTRACT
Maternal one-carbon metabolism during pregnancy is crucial for fetal development and programming by DNA methylation. However, evidence on one-carbon biomarkers other than folate is lacking. We, therefore, investigated whether maternal plasma methyl donors, that is, choline, betaine and methionine, are associated with birth outcomes. Blood samples were obtained from 115 women during gestation (median 26·3 weeks, 90 % range 22·7-33·0 weeks). Plasma choline, betaine, methionine and dimethylglycine were measured using HPLC-tandem MS. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate the association between plasma biomarkers and birth weight, birth length, the risk of small-for-gestational-age and large-for-gestational-age (LGA). Higher level of maternal betaine was associated with lower birth weight (-130·3 (95 % CI -244·8, -15·9) per 1 sd increment for log-transformed betaine). Higher maternal methionine was associated with lower risk of LGA, and adjusted OR, with 95 % CI for 1 sd increase in methionine concentration was 0·44 (95 % CI 0·21, 0·89). Stratified analyses according to infant sex or maternal plasma homocysteine status showed that reduction in birth weight in relation to maternal betaine was only limited to male infants or to who had higher maternal homocysteine status (≥5·1 µmol/l). Higher maternal betaine status was associated with reduced birth weight. Maternal methionine was inversely associated with LGA risk. These findings are needed to be replicated in future larger studies.
Subject(s)
Betaine/blood , Birth Weight , Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena/physiology , Pregnancy Trimesters/blood , Adult , Choline/blood , Female , Homocysteine/blood , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Infant, Small for Gestational Age , Male , Methionine/blood , Pregnancy , Sarcosine/analogs & derivatives , Sarcosine/bloodABSTRACT
In this investigation, a model of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was used on Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats to clarify more details of the mechanism in the therapy of T2DM. D-chiro-inositol (DCI) was administrated to the diabetic rats as two doses [30, 60 mg/(kg·body weight·day)]. The biochemical indices revealed that DCI had a positive effect on hypoglycemic activity and promoted the glycogen synthesis. The rats in DCI high-dosage group had a blood glucose reduction rate of 21.5% after 5 weeks of treatment, and had insulin content in serum about 15.3 ± 2.37 mIU/L which was significantly decreased than diabetes control group. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) results revealed that DCI gave a positive regulation on glycogen synthase (GS) and protein glucose transporter-4 (Glut4). Western blotting suggested that DCI could up-regulated the expression of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K) p85, PI3Kp110, GS as well as the phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) both in the liver and the skeletal muscle. The results also revealed that DCI enhanced the Glut4 expression on skeletal muscle. Above all, DCI played a positive role in regulating insulin-mediated glucose uptake through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in T2DM rats.
