Analysis on anemia status of children under 3 years old in western China

Objective To analyse the anemia status of children under 3 years old in western China.Methods The 9616 children under 3 years old and their families were investigated by using stratified random sampling method in 46 counties in western China.The content of haemoglobin was measured by Cyanmethemoglobin and HemoCue.The diagnostic criterion of anemia was the level of haemoglobin less than 110?g/L for the children of 6 months to under 6 years old,which proposed by WHO and UNICEF.Results The prevalence of anemia among the childen under 3 years old in ten provinces was 33.8%,and the prevalence of boys was 34.7%,and girls was 32.5%.The prevalence of anemia was 33.1% and 30.0% in those families cooking with iron pan and famlies with separate cooking for children.While the prevalence was 47.8% and 38.6% in those families cooking without iron pan and without separate cooking for children.Prevalence of anemia was varying along with the age.The peak of anemia prevalence was found among the children of 12～18 months.Compared with the children of normal mother,the related risk of anemia was 3.271 for the children of anemic mother.The analysis of Logistic regression showed that mother anemia,cooking with iron pan,separate cooking for child and gender had significant relations to child anemia.Conclusion The anemia prevalence among the children under 3 years old in the rural of western China is high and should be controlled.