Anemia and associated factors among adolescent girls and boys at 10–14 years in rural western China

Abstract

Background Evidence on anemia and associated factors among young adolescent girls and boys in rural western China is limited. Methods We used data from a follow-up study of adolescents (10–14 years) born to women who participated in a randomized trial of antenatal micronutrient supplementation in western China. Anemia was defined by World Health Organization standards. Logistic regression was used to examine the factors associated with anemia. Results The overall prevalence of anemia was 11.7% (178/1517). Female adolescents were 1.73 (95% CI 1.21, 2.48) times more likely to have anemia as compared to males. Adolescents whose mothers had completed high school were 0.35 (95% CI 0.13, 0.93) times less likely to be anemic, compared to those of whom had < 3 years of formal education. Household wealth was also inversely associated with anemia. The association of puberty status with anemia was modified by adolescent sex (P-value for interaction was 0.04); males with greater than mild pubertal development had reduced odds (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.15, 0.83) of anemia while there was no association among females (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.29, 1.78). Consumption of flesh foods (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.38, 0.89), eggs (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38, 0.93), and having a meal frequency of three times or more per day (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.48, 0.96) were also associated with a lower likelihood of anemia. Conclusions Anemia was a mild public health problem among young adolescents in rural western China. Nutritional and social determinants were identified as predictors, warranting interventions to reduce the risk of anemia among this critical age group.

Non-Pharmacological Interventions for Anemia Treatment: Systematic Review

“…The secondary outcome Hepcidin is a master regulator of iron availability that controls both iron uptake from the duodenum and its release from tissue iron stores (Roth, Meynard, and Coppin, 2019). Dysregulation of hepcidin levels causes some disturbances due to iron overload if hepcidin is too low, and conversely, iron deficiency if hepcidin is too high (Zhu et al, 2021). In the first situation, the main group of disorders is hemochromatosis (types I, II, and III) and, to date, the available treatments include phlebotomy and iron chelation therapy (Brissot et al, 2018).…”

“…The global prevalence of anemia in non-pregnant women, of childbearing age, is estimated at 29.0% (WHO, 2012), and is more common in low-and middle-income countries or women belonging to low socioeconomic strata ( (Zhu et al, 2021). Anemia has multiple direct causes that always coexist: can be caused by infectious parasites (Kumar et al, 2020) inflammatory disorders (De-Regil et al, 2015) congenital abnormalities of hemoglobin structure; oxidative stress (i.e.…”

“…For example, it causes impaired muscle function and impaired resistance to infection in all age groups (Solehati, Sriati, and Kosasih, 2020), and is associated with decreased physical capacity and work performance in adolescents and adults (WHO, 2012). Most women worldwide enter pregnancy with less than the desired iron stores, which reduces their reproductive performance (Zhu et al, 2021). In addition to iron deficiency, women often lack other vitamins and minerals that play an important role in the body (Tam et al, 2020).…”

“…Adequate intake of folate during the periconceptional period, for example, is very important in reducing the risk of giving birth to a baby with defects. (De-Regil et al, 2015) Vitamin B12 and folate deficiencies are the main causes of anemia (Zhu et al, 2021), whereas vitamin B12 and folate deficiency are the main causes of anemia (Zhu et al, 2021), while vitamin B12 A regulates many critical functions, including vision, the integrity of epithelial tissue (e.g. membrane tissue covering internal organs and other internal body surfaces), expression of several hundred genes, and their deficiency also contributes to nutritional anemia (D'Adamo et al, 2018).…”

Effect of Nutritional intervention in ameliorating Anemia among adolescent girls of rural Telangana state

“…Anemia was a mild public health problem among young adolescents gobally. Nutritional and social determinants were identified as predictors, warranting interventions to reduce the risk of anemia among this critical age group (Zhu et al, 2021) [9] . Adolescence age is a critical period of growth, reproductive maturation, and developmental transitions which demands increased nutritional intake and therefore makes adolescents more vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies (Fuhrmann, 2015) [3] Adolescents as described by the United Nations as those between the ages of 10 and 19, are 1.2 billion in number in world today, constituting 18 percent of the world's population.…”