Study of anemia in hospitalised infants with special reference to its risk factors

Background: Anemia is a major nutritional problem in India. Anemia in infancy and early childhood affects growth and development and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence, severity and types of anemia and study the risk factors for anemia in hospitalised infants. Methods: A prospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Western India from July 2016 to December 2017. Complete hemogram of all hospitalised infants between 6-12 months of age was done and those with haemoglobin levels<11g/dl were considered anemic. Results: Out of 206 hospitalised infants,131(63.6%) had anemia. Male: female ratio was1.3:1. The most common illness for which they were admitted was respiratory tract infections.35.1% of the anemic infants had low birth weight, 19.1% were born prematurely and 59.5% had a history of maternal anemia. Only 42% were exclusively breast fed till 6 months of age and improper complementary feeding practices was observed in 61.8% of infants. Mild, moderate and severe anemia was seen in 41.2%, 50.4% and 8.4% infants respectively. The most common type of anemia was microcytic hypochromic anemia (67.2%). Conclusion: Anemia is a major problem in infants with a high prevalence. Most infants have mild to moderate anemia and the most common type is microcytic hypochromic anemia most likely due to iron deficiency. Preterm gestation, absence of exclusive breastfeeding, consumption of cow’s milk, improper complementary feeding practices and presence of maternal anemia were the risk factors found to be associated with development of anemia in the present study.