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

ABSTRACT:

Background

The effect of maternal anemia on childhood hemoglobin status has received little attention. Thus, we examined the potential association between maternal anemia and childhood anemia (aged 6-59 months) from selected Southern Africa countries.

Methods

A cross-sectional study using nationally representative samples of children aged 6-59 months from the 2010 Malawi, 2011 Mozambique, 2013 Namibia, and 2010-11 Zimbabwe demographic and health surveys (DHS) was conducted. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were constructed to test the associations between maternal anemia and childhood anemia, controlling for individual and community sociodemographic covariates.

Results

The GLMMs showed that anemic mothers had increased odds of having an anemic child in all four

SUBMITTER: Ntenda PAM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5964691 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature