Prevalence and changes of anemia among young children and women in 47 low- and middle-income countries, 2000-2018
Jiahong Sun, Han Wu, Min Zhao, Costan G. Magnussen, Bo Xi
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Anemia remains a major public health issue, particularly for children and women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, the current prevalence and recent changes of anemia among young children and women of reproductive age, particularly for pregnant women in different trimesters are unclear. We examined the current prevalence of anemia among children aged less than 5 years by age (6-35 months vs. 36-59 months) and women of reproductive age by pregnant status (pregnant vs. non-pregnant) and trimesters (the third vs. the second vs. the first trimester) between 2010 and 2018 and further examined changes in the prevalence from 2000-2009 to 2010-2018. METHODS: = 928,889) were included. Modified Poisson regression analyses with robust error variance were used to examine changes in anemia between 2000-2009 and 2010-2018 in participants by child age (6-5 months vs. 36-59 months), women pregnant status (pregnant vs. non-pregnant), trimesters (the second or third trimester vs. the first trimester) with the adjustment for potential covariates. FINDINGS: < 0.001) were more likely to have anemia than those in the first trimester. Among 29 included countries, although there was a decreasing change (absolute change, relative change, and average annual rate of reduction) in young children and women between 2000-2009 and 2010-2018 in a majority of countries, the current prevalence of anemia remained at a high level. INTERPRETATION: The prevalence of anemia among children aged less than 5 years and women of reproductive age was still high in LMICs, particularly for younger children and pregnant women. The relative change among women of reproductive age was far away from the WHO goal of reduction of anemia by 50% by 2025 (i.e., prevalence reduction to about 15.2% by 2025 from 30.3% at 2012 baseline). Continued and effective efforts, particularly for high-risk populations, are needed to improve the general health of the population. FUNDING: Innovation Team of "Climbing" Program of Shandong University, and the Youth Team of Humanistic and Social Science of Shandong University (20820IFYT1902).