article · BMC Public Health
A community-based study of 432 preschool children in Menz Gera Midir district, Ethiopia, evaluated the prevalence and determinants of anaemia. Using haemoglobin testing, red blood cell morphology, and anthropometric measurements, the investigation revealed an overall anaemia prevalence of 28.5 per cent, comprising mild and moderate cases. Microcytic hypochromic anaemia was the most frequent morphological type, representing slightly over half of the diagnosed cases. Children aged 6 to 23 months experienced substantially higher odds of developing anaemia. Poor nutritional status, manifested through stunting, wasting, underweight condition, and low mid-upper arm circumference, showed strong correlations with the disorder. Furthermore, wider household vulnerabilities, notably female-headed households, maternal anaemia, and food insecurity, were identified as critical associated risk factors. The findings highlight the need for targeted nutritional education and iron supplementation interventions.
Anaemia severely impairs early cognitive and physical development in young children. By identifying distinct nutritional and domestic risk factors, including food insecurity and maternal health, public health planners can design targeted interventions. Recognising that microcytic hypochromic forms predominate helps health services focus their efforts on iron deficiency management and integrated nutritional support for affected households.
The abstract does not describe an explicit commercial technology pathway. However, the findings highlight operational needs that could guide manufacturers of fortified foods, point-of-care diagnostic tools, or iron supplementation products targeting rural public health programmes. Any application would be led by public health bodies, non-governmental organisations, or nutritional aid suppliers rather than private markets, remaining at an early intervention design stage.
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BACKGROUND: In Ethiopian, the prevalence of anemia among preschool aged children widely varied across regions. Since anemia adversely affects the cognitive and physical development of the children, it is important to determine its burden for implementing appropriate measurements. Therefore, this study was aimed at determining the anemia prevalence and associated factors among preschool aged children. METHOD: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 432 preschool children in Menz Gera Midir district from January to May, 2017. A multi stage sampling procedure was applied to select the target groups. Hemocue analyzer for Haemoglobin determination; anthropometric measurements for assessment nutritional status, structured questionnaires for socio-demographic and economic variables were used for data collection. The morphological appearance of red blood cell was assessed microscopically to determine type of anemia. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize the data and binary logistic regression was used for inferential statistics. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. RESULT: The overall prevalence of anemia was 123 (28.5%); of which 38 (30.9%) and 85 (69.1%) were moderate and mild, respectively. Morphologically about 50.4, 37.4 and 12.2% were microcytic hypochromic, normocytic normochromic and macrocytic anemias, respectively. Child age 6-11 months (COR: 5.67, 95% CI: 2.2, 14.86), child age 12-23 months (COR: 5.8, 95% CI: 2.3, 14.7), wasting (COR: 3.5, 95% CI: 1.2, 9.8), stunting (COR: 3.8, 95% CI: 1.92, 7.77), underweight (COR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.07, 4.38), MUAC measurement below 13 cm (COR: 5.6, 95% CI: 2.83, 11.15), household headed by female (COR: 3.24, 95% CI: 1.1, 9.63), maternal anemia (COR: 4, 95% CI: 2.2, 7.23) and household food insecurity (COR: 2.12, 95% CI: 1.09, 4.12) were significantly associated with anemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of anemia among the children was found to be high and associated with child age group, child nutritional status, house hold headed by female, maternal anemia and household food insecurity. Further studies on nutritional anemia, community based nutritional education, iron supplementation to children at risk should be promoted.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12889-019-7293-0
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