NUTRITIVE-VALUE OF HONG-KONG CHINESE WEANING DIET

The weaning diet of Hong Kong Chinese had been reported to be suboptimal in the 1960s. Since then, marked socio-economic changes have taken place which might have an impact on the infant feeding practice. Between 1984 and 1986, 174 full term healthy Hong Kong Chinese were studied longitudinally from birth to two years. The infants were fed according to guidelines made available to mothers in the local Maternal and Child Health Clinics. Very few babies were breast fed. Infant formulas were given throughout the two year period supplemented with rice-based solids from around six months. The mean (SD) energy intakes at day 7, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months were 121(28), 85(18), 98(24), 99(27) and 91(27) Kcal/Kg/day respectively (1 Kcal=4.18 KJ) close to the 1985 FAO/WHO recommendation. Protein intakes were much higher than those recommended by the WHO. The percentage of fat dropped from 48% at birth to 30% by 1-2 years. Studied infants were representative of Hong Kong population and were adequately fed. © 1990 Pergamon Press plc. All rights reserved.