Burden of anaemia among children aged 6-59 months and its associated risk factors in India-Are there gender differences?

Anaemia, an indicator of poor nutrition and health, is a major public health problem in India. The causes of anaemia are multifactorial, which includes iron deficiency, nutritional deficiencies, chronic infections, inherited blood disorders, obesity and non-communicable diseases. Anaemia has been implicated with growth retardation, impaired motor and cognitive development, and childhood morbidity and mortality. Anaemia among children is a public health problem globally. An estimated 273.2 million children aged 6-59 months suffer from anaemia globally. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of anaemia and its determinants among children aged 6-59 months in India. Data has been taken from the latest fourth round of National Family Health survey (2015-16). A total of 2,09,495 children aged 6 to 59 months were included in the study for their analysis. Anaemia was present in 1,20,507 pre-schoolers. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression have been used to determine the association between anaemia and its associated covariates. Ap-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Overall, the prevalence of anaemia was found to be 58 percent. Childhood anaemia was significantly associated with the mother's education, body mass index, place of delivery, maternal anaemia, access to antenatal care, child's age, birth weight, birth interval, stunting, wasting, underweight and wealth status of the household. In both male and female children, the risk of anaemia was almost similar and significantly higher in undernourished children as compared to their counterparts. Anaemia remains a serious public health concern in most states of India. Gender does not play any role as a risk factor for the great burden of anaemia. Strategies for reducing the severity of anaemia should target women education, birth interval, nutritional status of mother and child, and wealth status of the family.