The current situation and factors associated with caregivers’ child nutrition knowledge, belief and practice in Tongzhou District, Beijing

Objective To investigate the current situation and factors associated with caregivers’ child nutrition knowledge, belief, practice（KAP） in Tongzhou District, Beijing, so as to provide evidence to improve children’s nutrition status.

Methods A cluster random sampling method was used to recruit infant caregivers as research subjects from 2 community health service centers from May to August 2021 in Tongzhou District, Beijing. A self-designed questionnaire was used to investigate general information of caregivers and infants, and the caregivers’ nutritional KAP and infants’ poor eating behaviors.

Results The average KAP score of the 735 subjects was 75.95 ± 7.05. The scores of nutrition knowledge, belief and practice were 8.69 ± 1.69, 28.04 ± 3.32, and 39.22 ± 4.60, respectively. The rate of total KAP score reaching standard level was 98.9% and the excellent rate was 68.3%. Caregiver being mother, monthly income 5 000－10 000 Yuan, 10 001－20 000 Yuan, and > 20 000 Yuan had a higher KAP excellent rate （OR = 1.699、2.561、2.562、3.638,95% CI：1.147－2.517、1.215－5.399、1.235－5.135、1.699－7.790）. Caregivers’ KAP excellent rates of 2－< 3 and ≥3 years age group were lower（OR = 0.516、0.457,95% CI：0.330－0.807、0.264－0.794）. Caregiver of non-one-child family had a lower KAP excellent rate（OR = 0.506,95% CI：0.350－0.732）. The prevalence of excellent eating behaviors among infants whose caregivers had poor child nutrition practice was 54.3%, which was lower than that among infants that eating behavious did not meet excellent standard （63.‍ 1%）.

Conclusion The overall status of caregivers’ child nutrition KAP is good in Tongzhou District, Beijing. Infant family’s socioeconomic status, age of the infant and the number of children in the family affect the KAP of the caregiver. The nutritional behavior of caregivers will affect the occurrence of infant poor eating behaviors. Therefore, health education should be focused on caregivers of infants to improve their awareness of the impact of poor eating habits on children’s growth and development.