Prevalence of anemia among infants and young children in rural areas of Hubei province

Objective To analyze the prevalence of anemia among infants and young children aged 6-23 months in rural areas of Hubei province.Methods Cluster random sampling was adopted in the study.Feeding behaviors was surveyed with a questionnaire,and hemoglobin,body weight and height were also measured.Results A total of 813 infants and young children aged 6-23 months were investigated.The prevalence of anemia of the infants and young children was 30.6%(29.2%for boys and 32.2%for girls).Among 6-11 month-old infants,the prevalence of anemia(33.6%)was higher than that of 12-17 month-old infants(31.2%)and 18-23 month-old infants(24.6%)(P<0.05).The prevalence of anemia of the infants with malnutrition(32.7%)or maternal anemia(37.6%)was higher than that of infants without malnutrition(22.2%)or maternal anemia(28.8%)(P<0.05).Compared with the infants who did not receive colostrums feeding or receive breastfeeding postnatal 24 hours,the prevalence of anemia of the infants who ever received colostrums feeding(27.4%)or received breastfeeding postnatal 24 hours(18.4%)was lower significantly(P<0.01).Conclusion Interventions as advocating postnatal breastfeeding as soon as possible and colostrums feeding,improving mother anemia and child malnutrition could decrease the prevalence of anemia among infants and young children in rural areas.