Anemia of School-Age Children in Primary Schools in Southern China Should Be Paid More Attention despite the Significant Improvement at National Level: Based on Chinese Nutrition and Health Surveillance Data (2016–2017)

Abstract

Globally, anemia among school-age children (SAC) remains a serious public health problem, impacting their growth, development, educational attainment and future learning potential. National and subnational anemia prevalence among SAC in China has not been assessed recently. Based on data from Chinese Nutrition and Health Surveillance (2016–2017), the current anemia status of SAC in primary schools in China was investigated. Anemia prevalence of SAC in primary schools in China was 4.4%, dropping 63.6% compared with that in 2002. Even though anemia was no longer a significant public health problem at the national level, there were significant spatial disparities of anemia prevalence in different areas: anemia prevalence in 63% of provinces of northern and eastern China has lowered to below 5%, while in provinces of southern China, it was still ranging from 5% to 11.0%, about 3 times of other areas. For those children in southern China, mother’s education level (OR = 1.24, p = 0.04) and father’s education level (OR = 1.27, p = 0.01) below senior high school, eating meat less than 3 times per week (OR = 1.18, p = 0.01) were risk factors of anemia. Older age (OR = 0.35–0.72, p < 0.01) was a protective factor. Targeted interventions should be taken to improve SAC anemia in Southern China, despite anemia of SAC in primary schools no longer being a significant public health problem.

Anemia and Associated Factors among Public Elementary School Children in Asella Town, Southeast Ethiopia: A Facility-Based Cross-Sectional Study

“…Te magnitude of anemia in this study is higher than that in a study conducted in Northwest Ethiopia (7.6%) [41], Durbete Town, Northwest Ethiopia (10.7%) [29], and China (8.4%) [27]. Te discrepancy may be attributed to the diferences in socioeconomic, sociodemographic, and cultural behaviors, studied population, and study period and setting.…”

“…Studies conducted in Ethiopia documented that factors that afect anemia in school-age children were mother occupation status, father occupation status, maternal education, father education, family size, parasites in the stool, stunted, and underweight [12,15,16,[24][25][26][27][28][29]. Te Ethiopian government has been working to address the nutritional concerns of SAC, mainly by integrating nutritionally sensitive interventions such as conducting regular monitoring of the nutritional status of school-age children/students together with biannual deworming and water hygiene and sanitation (WASH) programs in schools [30], mass fortifcation of staple foods and condiments, home (point-of-use) fortifcation of foods, initiating a homegrown school feeding program for school-aged children, and provision of micronutrient supplements and weekly iron and folic acid supplementation (WIFAS) [19,31].…”

Relationship between Anemia and Academic Performance in Chinese Primary School Students: Evidence from a Large National Survey

“…Tis study showed that the prevalence of anemia is 6.52% in Chinese Grade 4 students, which is similar to the results of other current national surveys on the prevalence of anemia in China. Te China Nutrition and Health Surveillance data showed that the prevalence of anemia was 4.01% and 3.25% in children aged 10 and 11 years, respectively [33]. Data from the Chinese National Survey on Student Constitution and Health revealed that the prevalence of anemia in children aged 9 and 12 years was 6.8% and 9.6%, respectively [34].…”

Relationship between anemia and learning performance in Chinese primary school students: evidence from a large national survey

“…This study showed that the prevalence of anemia is 6.52% in Chinese Grade 4 students, which is similar to the results of other current national surveys on the prevalence of anemia in China. The China Nutrition and Health Surveillance data showed that the prevalence of anemia was 4.01% and 3.25% in children aged 10 and 11 years, respectively 14 . Data from the Chinese National Survey on Student Constitution and Health revealed that the prevalence of anemia in children aged 9 and 12 years was 6.8% and 9.6%, respectively 2 .…”