Chinese Babies' Health Improves Greatly

According to a renowned US nutriology expert, the general level of Chinese infants' health has improved a lot especially in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and their level of improvement continues to rise as high as that of the United States and Canada.

"Most Chinese babies are happily growing up healthy as World Health Organization (WHO) standards expect them to," said David L. Yeung, a doctor of nutriology and president of Heinz Institute of Nutritional Sciences.

During the past decade, the low-weight rate of urban and rural children decreases 0.7 and 1.25 per cent respectively each year, while the average height of rural children gained 2 to 3 centimetres, according to statistics provided by a national nutrition supervision network.

"That's partly because there is a variety of nutritionally well-balanced baby food on the Chinese market and mothers have progressed in their baby-feeding in terms of nutrition," he said.

The doctor said a baby's diet pattern should be structured like a pyramid.

Breast milk is of vital importance and should be fed to infants as long as possible. When the baby is four or six months, it may begin to take some cereal or rice with milk.

Recently an infant formula fortified with long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids made its debut in the Chinese mainland, which contains necessary nutrients AA and DHA, which are vital for a newborn baby.

Clinical tests shows that DHA and AA make up 30 per cent of the lipid in the human brain's grey matter. Therefore it is important for newborn babies, regardless of race, because most pediatric experts believe a young baby's first year is the fastest stage for a human being's cognitive and visual development, 80 per cent of the cerebral tissue being formed during this period.

As to possible causes of infant obesity problem, which is becoming increasingly serious in China, Dr Yeung revealed the blindness of some parents in giving their babies whatever they want to eat, even when it is not very nutritious.

"There is still the potential for Chinese children to be stronger and grow better," the doctor added.





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