BEIJING -- About 20 percent of babies under the age of three in China's underdeveloped regions suffer malnutrition and anemia due to improper diet and feeding habits, new research report said.

The research, conducted by the School of Public Health of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong Province and doctors from its affiliated hospitals, showed the growth retardant rate of babies in the areas was 16 percent, much higher than the national average of 2.6 percent.

The report was based on a survey of 382 babies between one and three years in Zhenghe County of eastern Fujian Province and Qianjiang District of the southwestern Chongqing Municipality. About 60 percent of the families surveyed had a per-capita annual income of less than 800 yuan (108 US dollars).

The consumption levels of meat, eggs and milk products of babies between two and three years in these areas were much lower than the national average, the report said.

Bian Huawei, a doctor with the No. 3 Hospital affiliated to the university, said poverty and improper eating habits were major causes of the problems.

He said the sampling survey truly reflected the malnutrition situation in China's poverty-stricken rural areas.