Modelling for Anaemia and Malnutrition in Children Less Than Five Years of Age in Lesotho: A Case Study of a Cross-Sectional Dataset Using Multivariate Joint Model.

Abstract

Background Anaemia and malnutrition remain jointly a serious health issue worldwide especially in developing countries. In Lesotho, the prevalence of anaemia and malnutrition remains highly significant especially among children less than five years of age. Objectives The primary objective of the present study was to determine the association between anaemia and malnutrition, and identify the associated factors with the two diseases among children less than five years of age in Lesotho. Methods The present study was cross-sectional and used secondary data from the 2014 Lesotho Demographic Health Survey (LDHS). The study considered a total number of 3112 children and utilized a multivariate joint model under the scope of the generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) for the data analysis. Results The prevalence of anaemia and stunting in children less than five years of age were 51% and 43% respectively. The multivariate results revealed that there is a strong relationship between anaemia and malnutrition. In addition, the results indicated that education, residence, wealth index and childbirth weight have a significant effect on stunted or malnourished child, while child with fever and diarrhoea have a significant effect on anaemia. Lastly, child’s age has a significant effect on both stunting and anaemia. Conclusion The study indicated a strong association between anaemia and stunting or malnutrition in the long-term, and controlling one disease should result in reducing the other. The socio-economic, geographical and demographic variables have a significant impact on improving stunting and anaemia. Thus, improving nutrition in children less than five years, especially those from rural area and having a birthweight less than 2500g, and educating the mothers to take their children to the health care facility when they have fever and diarrhoea, especially those from poor background, would contribute immensely to the reduction of malnutrition and anaemia in children from Lesotho.

Bayesian spatio-temporal and joint modelling of malaria and anaemia among Nigerian children aged under five years, including estimation of the effects of risk factors.

“…According to McLean et al, (2009), over half of malaria reduction reduced 60% risk of anaemia infection. This is a confirmation of the relationship between malaria and anaemia, which can increase the death rate and cause more havoc in children if there is no timely intervention (Gaston et al, 2018;Gaston et al, 2021).…”

“…According to 2010 and 2015 Malaria Indicator Survey (MIS), the prevalence of anaemia among children under the age of 5 years in Nigeria was about 72% and 68% respectively (NNPC et al, 2012;NMC report, 2015). The effect of anaemia on children is so detrimental that it impedes their mental and physical development which affects the socio-economics of the nation (Abegunde and Stanciole, 2006;Soares Magalhães and Clements, 2011;WHO, 2011;Gaston et al, 2018;Gaston et al, 2021).…”

“…Several studies have proved that children are more vulnerable to both diseases, but studies on simultaneous modeling of both malaria and anaemia infection in children are scanty, especially in Nigeria and some African countries (Deribew et al, 2013;Adebayo et al, 2016;Petry et al, 2019;Gayawan et al, 2022;Egbon, 2021). Because children are a nation's future, there is need to give precedence to their health (Gaston et al, 2018, Gaston et al, 2021. Also, studies have been done on monitoring the trend of malaria and anaemia in Nigeria using national average to compare between countries (Obasohan et al, 2022;Oguoma et al, 2021).…”

Statistical study on childhood malnutrition and anaemia in Angola, Malawi and Senegal.

“…Socio-economic, demographic, health and environmental elements of living are known to be the contributing factors regarding anemia status. The framework used to select the explanatory variables is similar to that used by ( (Gaston, et al, 2018), (Kawo, et al, 2018), (Ray, et al, 2016)).…”