Background: Anemia in pregnancy remains a major public health issue in developing countries. Studies in Indonesia examining the effects of socio-demographic factors, dietary pattern, and cultural belief on the risk of anemia in pregnancy are lacking. This study aimed to examinethe effects of socio-demographic factors, dietary pattern, and cultural belief on the risk of anemia in pregnancy. Subjects and Method: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 community health centers in Karanganyar, Central Java, from February to March 2018.A total of 200 trimester I, II, and III pregnant mothers was selected for this study by fixed disease sampling, consisting of 50 mothers with anemia and 150 mothers without anemia. The dependent variable was anemia during pregnancy. The independent variables were nutrition intake, dietary pattern, consumption of iron tablet, family income, parity, family size, antenatal care visit, and cultural belief. The data were collected by questionnaire. The anemia status was obtained from medical record. The data were analyzed by path analysis performed on Stata 13. Results: The risk of anemia during pregnancy directly decreased with better nutrition intake (b= -1.02; 95% CI= -1.73 to -0.31; p= 0.005) and regular consumption of iron tablet (b= -0.79; 95% CI= 1.48 to -0.10; p= 0.024). The risk of anemia during pregnancy was indirectly affected by better dietary pattern, higher family income, larger family size, cultural belief, parity, higher education, and antenatal care visit. Conclusion: Good nutrition intake and regular consumption of iron tablet decreased the risk of anemia during pregnancy. Dietary pattern, family income, family size, cultural belief, parity, and maternal education have indirect effects on the risk of anemia during pregnancy.

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is defined as a hemoglobin concentration of less than 110 g/L (less than 11 g/dL) in venous blood. It affects more than 56 million women globally, two-thirds of them being from Asia. Anemia increases perinatal risks for mothers and neonates; and increases overall infant mortality. The odds for fetal growth restriction and low birth weight are tripled. The odds for preterm delivery are more than doubled. Even a moderate hemorrhage in an anemic pregnant woman can be fatal. Anemia is the major contributory or sole cause in 20-40% of maternal deaths. Many women go through the entire pregnancy without attaining the minimum required intake of iron. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors associated with hemoglobin level in pregnant women. Subjects and Method: This was a cross-sectional study carried out Karanganyar, Central Java, from February to March 2018. A sample of 200 pregnant women was selected for this study by fixed disease sampling, comprising 50 women with anemia and 150 women without anemia. The dependent variable was hemoglobin level. The independent variables were iron tablet consumption, nutrition intake, dietary culture, and family size. Data on hemoglobin level were taken from medical record. The other variables were measured by questionnaire. The data were analyzed by a multiple linear regression. Results: Hemoglobin level increased with adequate iron tablet consumption (b= 0.38; 95% CI= 10.79 to 11.37; p<0.001) and better nutrition intake (b= 0.46; 95% CI= 0.17 to 0.75; p= 0.002). Hemoglobin level decreased with inhibitory dietary culture (b=-0.28; 95% CI=-0.55 to <0.01; p= 0.050) and larger family size (b=-0.30; 95% CI=-0.63 to 0.03; p= 0.070). Conclusion: Adequate iron tablet consumption and better nutrition intake increase hemoglobin level. Inhibitory dietary culture and larger family size decrease hemoglobin level.