Maternal anemia is a potential risk factor for anemia in children aged 6–59 months in Southern Africa: a multilevel analysis

Ntenda, Peter A. M.; Nkoka, Owen; Bass, Paul; Senghore, Thomas

doi:10.1186/s12889-018-5568-5

Table 2 Bivariate analysis of childhood anemia for the four selected Southern African countries

From: Maternal anemia is a potential risk factor for anemia in children aged 6–59 months in Southern Africa: a multilevel analysis

Characteristic	Malawi		Mozambique		Namibia		Zimbabwe
	Anemia*		Anemia*		Anemia*		Anemia*
	No %	Yes %	No %	Yes %	No %	Yes %	No %	Yes %
Exposure variable
Maternal anemic status
No anemic	38.76	61.24^a	40.04	59.96^a	50.88	49.12^b	44.26	55.74^a
Anemic	26.18	73.82	26.23	73.77	39.42	60.58	35.74	64.26
Individual-level
Biofuel smoke exposure^β
No	58.82	41.18	53.85	46.15^a	52.56	47.44	43.12	56.88
Yes	35.30	64.70	31.87	68.13	46.99	53.01	41.71	58.29
Sex of child
Male	34.24	65.76	32.72	67.28	45.22	54.78^c	41.57	58.43
Female	36.68	63.32	33.07	66.93	51.97	48.03	42.46	57.54
Child age in months
6–11	9.33	90.67^a⁑	19.43	80.57^a⁑	33.99	66.01^a⁑	28.17	71.83^a⁑
12–23	25.65	74.35	25.70	74.30	31.97	68.03	27.07	72.93
24–35	35.75	64.25	33.55	66.45	49.80	50.20	43.06	56.94
36–47	45.39	54.61	37.67	62.33	62.82	37.18	54.03	45.97
48–59	50.87	49.13	46.84	53.16	68.68	31.32	61.19	38.81
Child’s birth order
1	31.93	68.07	32.84	67.16	44.73	55.27	41.11	58.89
2	38.52	62.01	35.45	64.55	50.36	49.64	40.88	59.12
3	38.52	61.48	31.69	68.31	51.41	48.59	45.66	54.34
4+	34.96	65.04	32.29	67.71	50.32	49.68	41.82	58.18
Recent episodes of fever
No	39.94	60.06^a	34.74	65.26^a	51.59	48.41^b	42.36	57.64
Yes	27.70	72.30	21.82	78.18	41.95	58.05	39.25	60.75
Recent episodes of diarrhea
No	37.38	62.62^a	33.94	66.06^b	52.19	47.81^a	43.28	56.72^b
Yes	26.00	74.00	25.00	75.00	36.69	63.31	35.48	64.52
Children are stunted
No	38.60	61.40^a	38.14	61.86^a	50.06	49.94	43.55	56.45^c
Yes	32.06	67.94	26.52	73.48	44.44	55.56	39.08	60.92
Children are underweight
No	36.71	63.29^a	34.58	65.42^a	48.16	51.84	42.58	57.42
Yes	27.13	72.87	22.83	77.17	52.86	47.14	37.23	62.77
Mother’s age in years
15–24	31.44	68.56^c	29.37	70.63	38.58	61.42^a	36.78	63.22^a
25–34	37.99	62.01	34.88	65.12	51.57	48.43	43.77	56.23
35–49	35.69	64.31	34.16	65.84	55.63	44.37	46.99	53.01
Mother’s educational level
No education	29.79	70.21^b	30.27	69.73^a	47.67	52.33	38.33	61.67
Primary	35.55	64.45	31.32	68.68	47.89	52.11	39.74	60.26
Secondary and above	42.81	57.19	50.50	49.50	49.15	50.85	43.29	56.71
Total children ever born
1	26.87	73.13^c⁑	31.28	68.72	42.63	57.37^c⁑	37.41	62.59^c⁑
2	37.92	62.08	36.49	63.51	50.70	49.30	43.43	56.57
3	40.14	59.86	30.16	69.84	52.11	47.89	45.06	54.94
4	33.75	66.25	35.11	64.89	49.57	50.43	40.26	59.74
5+	36.26	63.74	32.30	67.70	51.64	48.36	45.53	54.47
Household wealth index
Poorest	28.93	71.07^a⁑	24.13	75.87^a⁑	50.20	49.80^c⁑	41.57	58.43
Poor	33.71	66.29	28.54	71.46	42.21	57.79	40.57	59.43
Middle	33.28	66.72	33.00	67.00	46.81	53.19	43.51	56.49
Richer	39.69	60.31	36.63	63.37	48.79	51.21	40.08	59.92
Richest	47.69	52.31	50.42	49.58	60.56	39.44	46.15	53.85
Community-level (clusters)
Place of residence
Urban	45.91	54.09^b	43.00	57.00^a	50.00	50.00	40.28	59.72
Rural	34.75	65.25	30.21	69.79	47.80	52.20	42.57	57.43
Community maternal anemia^†
Low anemia	37.23	62.77^b	39.36	60.64^a	50.36	49.64^b	40.75	59.25^c
High anemia	28.13	71.87	27.87	72.13	38.26	61.74	46.48	53.52
Community parity^∫
Low	41.95	58.05^a	36.85	63.15^b	49.19	50.81	41.59	58.41
High	31.74	68.26	30.61	69.39	47.27	52.73	42.36	57.64
Community wealth^††
Low	33.56	66.44^a	28.31	71.69^a	46.47	53.53^c	42.33	57.67
High	43.78	56.22	42.98	57.02	54.35	45.65	41.33	58.67
Community female education^§
Low	29.40	70.60^a	29.35	70.65^a	44.09	55.91	41.25	58.75
High	37.30	62.70	39.12	60.88	49.34	50.66	42.24	57.76
Community distance to HF^¥
Low	43.00	57.00^a	39.73	60.27^a	50.15	49.85	41.61	58.39
High	32.62	67.38	29.26	70.74	46.54	53.46	42.28	57.72
Community safe water access^‡
Low	31.66	68.34^c	28.44	71.56^a	50.52	49.48	40.24	59.76
High	36.71	63.29	42.88	57.12	48.37	51.63	42.43	57.57

Note: ^aP < 0.0001; ^bP < 0.001; ^cP < 0.05; ⁑ Cochran-Armitage Trend Test – statistical trend analysis; *Children with hemoglobin levels of less than 11 g/dL adjusted for altitude; ^β wood, straw, animal dung, and crop residues used as cooking fuels ^† percent of women with Hb levels less than 12 g/dL; ^∫ percent of women with fertility rate of 5 children and above; ^†† percent of households categorized above 60% of wealth index; ^§ percent of women with primary school education and above; ^¥ percent of households perceived distance to the nearest health facility as a big problem; ^‡ percent of household with access to clean and safe drinking water sources specified by WHO/Unicef [34]

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ISSN: 1471-2458

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