Prevalence and factors associated with anaemia among children aged 6 to 59 months in Namutumba district, Uganda: a cross- sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundAnaemia is one of the major causes of death among children under five years in Africa, with a prevalence of 64.6% among pre-school children. In 2014, we conducted a cross-sectional study in Namutumba district in East-central Uganda to determine the prevalence and factors associated with anaemia among children aged 6 to 59 months.MethodsWe conducted a household survey in 376 randomly selected households. One child aged 6 to 59 months was randomly sampled from each selected household. A structured questionnaire administered to an adult caregiver was used to collect household data. Blood was collected by finger or heel prick to estimate the haemoglobin level using a portable haemocue analyser. Anthropometric data including age, weight and height was collected for each child. A modified poisson regression model was used to determine the correlates of anaemia, prevalence ratios and their 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsThe prevalence of anaemia was high (58.8%) and was highest among children aged 12 to 23 months (68.5%) and males (61.3%). About 27.7% children were stunted. Children aged 6–11 and 12–23 months were more likely to be anaemic (APR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.05–1.19 and APR = 1.12; 95% CI: 1.00–1.24 respectively), Resident of Magada and Namutumba (urban areas) were less likely to be anaemic (APR = 0.89; 95% CI: 0.87–0.91and APR = 0.86; 95% CI: 0. 85–0.88 respectively). Children of caretakers of a big family size (seven or more children) and with any formal education were less likely to be anaemic (APR = 0.94; 95% CI: 0.89–0.99 and APR = 0.93; 95% CI: 0.87–0.99). Stunting (HAZ scores) was a predictor of anaemia (APR = 1.07; 95% CI: 1.02–1.12).ConclusionAnaemia is highly prevalent among children and there is need to invest in measures to prevent anaemia, especially among children in the rural areas.

Stunting and anemia among children 6–23 months old in Damot Sore district, Southern Ethiopia

“…According to this study, the prevalence of anemia is higher than the EDHS 2016 report of SNNPR under 5 years of age [27] and much lower than studies conducted in northern (66.6%) [8] and eastern (53.7%) [7] parts of Ethiopia, Cameron (66.7%), Sudan (86%) and Uganda (58.8%) [28][29][30] respectively. This might be attributed to seasonal food shortage since data were collected in spring which is a sunny season characterized by poor consumption of diversified foods and also due to the change made by the existing public health interventions, provision of health information through health extension workers.…”

Prevalence, morphological characterization, and associated factors of anemia among children below 5 years of age attending St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor, Gulu District, Northern Uganda

“…Contrary to our study findings, a number of studies have reported a higher prevalence, for example, 78.4% in Ghana, 13 77.2% in Tanzania, 14 51.8% in Cape Verde, 10 and 58.8% in Namutumba District in Uganda. 19 …”

Copula geoadditive modelling of anaemia and malaria in young children in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda

“…Anaemia and malaria are major contributors of childhood morbidity and mortality, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa [ 1 , 2 ]. The causes of anaemia in children are multifactorial and include malaria.…”