Survey on the Awareness of Guardians of Young Infants on the Weaning of Food in Pohang and Gyeongju Area / 대한소아소화기영양학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: This study was carried out to investigate the awareness of the weaning of food using questionnaires, and the relationship with the weight gain in young infants. METHODS: From September 2005 to December 2005, we performed a survey on 141 guardians of young infants aged from 6 to 18 months, who visited the pediatric out-patient department at Dongguk University Medical Center. We calculated the total score for each responder from ten questions on the weaning of food and assessed the body weight percentile of each of the young infants. RESULTS: The most commonly reported information source for weaning food was 'the friends around' by 62 respondents (44.0%); 54 (38.3%) responded that the definition of weaning food was the preparatory step before starting a solid diet. Most used a spoon (90.8%) to feed when weaning food with a thin gruel of rice (78.7%). The time for weaning of food was before breast or infant formula feeding (55.3%). Addition of cow's milk was around 12 months (77.3%). The mean score was 6.21; however this did not show a statistically significant correlation with weight gain in young infants. CONCLUSION: The overall awareness of weaning of food has improved; however, information from doctors has decreased. Although the relationship between the awareness of weaning of food and the growth of young infants was not statistically significant, further studies on weaning of food, with larger and controlled sample sizes may provide important information.