Anemia in preschool children in China and its association with neuropsychological development / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To explore the relationship between anemia and neuropsychological development in various domains among preschool children in China.@*Methods@#Data came from the National Nutrition and Health Systematic Survey for children in China, and 3 261 preschool children aged 2-6 years and their parents from 28 sites across 14 provinces were recruited in this study. Parental and child characteristics were obtained by interview administrated questionnaires. Blood hemoglobin(Hb) concentration was determined by Hemocue method. Neuropsychological development quotients were assessed using the Development Scale for Children Aged 0-6 Years(WS/T 580-2017).@*Results@#The average Hb level was (125.23±11.49)g/L and the overall anemia prevalence was 10.30% among preschool children. After adjusting the confounding factors(sex, age, ethnicity, region, feeding mode, maternal status during pregnancy, etc), developmental quotients of gross motor( β=-2.15, 95%CI =-3.89--0.41), fine motor( β=-2.46, 95%CI =-4.12--0.79), adaptive behavior( β=-2.59, 95%CI =-4.42--0.76), language( β=-3.65, 95%CI =-5.53--1.78), personal social behavior( β=-3.11, 95%CI =-4.94--1.28) and full scale( β=-2.79, 95%CI =-4.10--1.49) among children with anemia were significantly lower than non anemic infants( P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Anemia was negatively associated with developmental quotient, as well as five domains of gross motor, fine motor, adaptive behavior, language, and personal social behavior in preschool children aged 2-6 years. It is suggested to carry out the work of anemia monitoring and intervention in preschool children to further improve their neuropsychological development.