Association between Anaemia in Children 6 to 23 Months Old and Child, Mother, Household and Feeding Indicators

Abstract

In Low and Lower-Middle-Income countries, the prevalence of anaemia in infancy remains high. In early childhood anaemia cause irreversible cognitive deficits and represents a higher risk of child mortality. The consequences of anaemia in infancy are a major barrier to overcome poverty traps. The aim of this study was to analyse, based on a multi-level approach, different factors associated with anaemia in children 6–23 months old based on recent available Standard Demographic Health Surveys (S-DHS). We identified 52 S-DHS that had complete information in all covariates of interest in our analysis between 2005 and 2015. We performed traditional logistic regressions and multilevel logistic regression analyses to study the association between haemoglobin concentrations and household, child, maternal, socio-demographic variables. In our sample, 70% of the 6–23 months-old children were anaemic. Child anaemia was strongly associated with maternal anaemia, household wealth, maternal education and low birth weight. Children fed with fortified foods, potatoes and other tubers had significantly lower rates of anaemia. Improving overall household living conditions, increasing maternal education, delaying childbearing and introducing iron rich foods at six months of age may reduce the likelihood of anaemia in toddlerhood.

Determinants of Anemia among Children Aged 6–59 Months in Ethiopia: Further Analysis of the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

“…is finding was in line with previous studies [9,26]. e reason for this might be hemolysis of red blood cells that can be caused by febrile diseases like malaria.…”

“…is finding was congruent with studies carried out in Ethiopia [10,11,20], Brazil [25], Switzerland [26], Burma [27], and India [28]. e reasons for this might be low nutrition uptake among children from households with poor wealth index.…”

“…is study showed that stunted children were more likely to develop anemic compared to children who were not stunted. is finding was supported by other studies conducted in Ethiopia [11,20], India [26], Bangladesh [34], Haiti [35], Brazil [22], and Burma [27]. e reason for this is that the stunted children in Ethiopia are more likely to have micronutrient deficiencies [22].…”

“…Residence (urban and rural), region (developing and major city administrative), mother's age (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), and 35-49 years), mothers' education status (no education, primary, and secondary or above), mother's anemia status (no anemic and anemic), mother's occupation (working or not working outside home at the time of survey), mother's marital status (married and not married), family size (≤4, 5-8, and ≥9), mother's body mass index (BMI) (<18.5 kg/m 2 and 18.5 kg/m 2 ), source of drinking water (not improved and improved), wealth index (poor, middle, and rich), types of toilet (not improved and improved), number of living under-five children (3 or less or 4 or more), sex of the child (female and male), birth order (5 or less or 5 or more), nutritional status of children (stunting, underweight, and wasting), age of the child (6-23, 24-42, and 43-59 months), fever (no and yes) or diarrhea (no and yes) within two weeks before the survey, perceived size at birth (small, medium, and large), history of medication (antiparasite in the last 6 months (no and yes) and iron pills/ syrup in the last 7 day (no and yes), and early initiation of breastfeeding (no and yes) were included in the analysis as predicator variables.…”

Anemia prevalence, severity and determinant factors among children aged 6-71 months in rural Hunan Province, China: a community-based cross-sectional study

“…10.2%) [5]. An observational study conducted in Switzerland reported that low birth weight raised the risk of anemia in infants aged 6-23 months by 16% [8]. Our study found no association between preterm birth or low birth weight with childhood anemia.…”