Anemia among 6 - 59 months children in a rural area of Bareilly district: a cross sectional study

ABSTRACT

Background: Anemia is a global health problem affecting mostly in developing countries. Iron deficiency anemia is a significant health problem and especially in developing countries. It’s the most neglected micronutrient deficiency disorder among under-five children. The objective of the study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of anemia among under-five children and to suggest suitable remediable measures to prevent and control of anemia.Method: This is a cross-sectional study. Household survey carried out in twelve villages in a rural practice area Dhaura, Bareilly. A total of 396 children were contacted for obtaining blood samples by taking 33 children from each village. Blood samples were taken from all children between the 6th month to 59 months of age using simple random sampling. After the collection, data will be analyzed using the SPSS software version 20.Result: A total of 47.5% of the children were found to have anemia. Among them 25.5% had mild, 63.3% had moderate and 11.2% had severe anemia. The majority of them were male 269 (67.9%). The mean age of participating children was 17.351±7.785 months. 48.2% of anemic children were low birth weight.Conclusion: High prevalence could be due to deficiency in iron nutrition among under-five children associated with poor food availability, due to lack of nutritional education and other sociodemographic conditions, child’s age and worse household conditions also contributed to the prevalence of anemia.