Characterisation of anaemia and associated factors among infants and pre-schoolers from rural India

• Published in: Public health nutrition 2016-04, Vol.19 (5), p.861-871
• Main Authors: Nair, Krishnapillai Madhavan, Fernandez-Rao, Sylvia, Nagalla, Balakrishna, Kankipati, Radhakrishna Vijaya, Punjal, Ravinder, Augustine, Little Flower, Hurley, Kristen M, Tilton, Nicholas, Harding, Kimberly B, Reinhart, Greg, Black, Maureen M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Anemia; Anemia - blood; Anemia - diagnosis; Anemia - epidemiology; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - blood; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - diagnosis; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency - epidemiology; Babies; Body Mass Index; Body Weight; C-Reactive Protein - metabolism; Child, Preschool; Children & youth; Epidemiology; Families & family life; Family Characteristics; Female; Ferritins - blood; Folic Acid - blood; Food; Food Supply; Humans; India; Infant; Infants; Iron - blood; Iron Deficiencies; Logistic Models; Male; Micronutrients - administration & dosage; Micronutrients - blood; Morbidity; Mothers; Multivariate Analysis; Nutrition Assessment; Nutritional epidemiology; Prevalence; Receptors, Transferrin - blood; Regression analysis; Research Papers; Risk Factors; Rural Population; Socioeconomic Factors; Standard of living; Standard scores; Towns; Vitamin B 12 - blood
• ISSN: 1368-9800; 1475-2727
• DOI: 10.1017/S1368980015002050

In India, national databases indicate anaemia prevalence of 80 % among 6-35-month-old children and 58 % among 36-59-month-old children. The present study aimed to characterise anaemia and the associated factors among infants and pre-schoolers living in rural India. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of data collected prior to an intervention trial. Fe-deficiency with anaemia (IDA), Fe deficiency with no anaemia (IDNA) and anaemia without Fe deficiency were defined. Serum ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and sTfR/log ferritin index were used to indicate Fe status. Twenty-six villages of Nalgonda district, Telangana, India. Data were collected in community sites. Participants Four hundred and seventy-six infants (aged 6-12 months), 316 pre-schoolers (aged 29-56 months) and their mothers. Prevalence of anaemia among infants and pre-schoolers was 66·4 and 47·8 %, prevalence of IDA was 52·2 and 42·1 %, prevalence of IDNA was 22·2 and 29·8 %, prevalence of anaemia without Fe deficiency was 14·2 and 5·7 %. Among infants, anaemia was positively associated with maternal anaemia (OR=3·31; 95 % CI 2·10, 5·23; P