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The Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition
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ISSN: 1606-0997 EISSN: 1606-0997
Vol. 31, No. 4, 2013, pp. 462-470
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Bioline Code: hn13056
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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The Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, Vol. 31, No. 4, 2013, pp. 462-470
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Identifying Predictors of Childhood Anaemia in North-East India
Dey, Sanku; Goswami, Sankar & Dey, Tanujit
Abstract
The objective of this study is to examine the factors that influence the occurrence of childhood anaemia in
North-East India by exploring dataset of the Reproductive and Child Health-II Survey (RCH-II). The study
population consisted of 10,137 children in the age-group of 0-6 year(s) from North-East India to explore
the predictors of childhood anaemia by means of different background characteristics, such as place of
residence, religion, household standard of living, literacy of mother, total children ever born to a mother,
age of mother at marriage. Prevalence of anaemia among children was taken as a polytomous variable. The
predicted probabilities of anaemia were established via multinomial logistic regression model. These probabilities
provided the degree of assessment of the contribution of predictors in the prevalence of childhood
anaemia. The mean haemoglobin concentration in children aged 0-6 year(s) was found to be 11.85 g/dL,
with a standard deviation of 5.61 g/dL. The multiple logistic regression analysis showed that rural children
were at greater risk of severe (OR=2.035; p=0.003) and moderate (OR=1.23; p=0.003) anaemia. All types of
anaemia (severe, moderate, and mild) were more prevalent among Hindu children (OR=2.971; p=0.000),
(OR=1.195; p=0.010), and (OR=1.201; p=0.011) than among children of other religions whereas moderate
(OR=1.406; p=0.001) and mild (OR=1.857; p=0.000) anaemia were more prevalent among Muslim children.
The fecundity of the mother was found to have significant effect on anaemia. Women with multiple
children were prone to greater risk of anaemia. The multiple logistic regression analysis also confirmed that
children of literate mothers were comparatively at lesser risk of severe anaemia. Mother’s age at marriage
had a significant effect on anaemia of their children as well.
Keywords
Anaemia; Multiple logistic regression; Odds ratio; Wald Test statistic; India
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