Association between anemia in infancy and 6 months exclusive breastfeeding
Keywords:
anemia,, exclusive breastfeedingAbstract
Background: Anemia in infancy still has been one of the worldwide public health problems. WHO recommended that infants should be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months of life. However, iron deficiency anemia in infants with exclusive breastfeeding has been reported especially in prolong breastfed infants. In addition, anemia was also found in exclusively breastfed infants aged less than 6 months.Objectives: To study an association between anemia and 6 months exclusive breastfeeding and determine prevalence of anemia in infancy Methodology: A retrospective and analytic study was conducted among infants who were received the vaccine of OPV3 and DPT-HB3 at well child clinic of Phatthalung hospital from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2016. Complete blood count (CBC) and red blood cell indices (mean corpuscular volume(MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin(MCH), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration(MCHC) and red blood cell distribution width(RDW)) were checked. Weight and height of the infants were measured. Type of feeding for the infants was interviewed from their caregivers. R program will be used for analysis. Chi-square and multiple logistic regression were used for the association. P-value less than 0.05 were a statistical significance.Results: 335 infants were recruited and 56.1% were male. Their average age was 6.4 months. Prevalence of anemia was 34.3% (95% CI: 29.3%-39.7%). MCV, MCH, MCHC of the anemic group were smaller than those of non- anemic group, whereas RDW of the anemic group was bigger. There were 78(23.3%) exclusively breastfed infants and 35(44.9%) exclusively breastfed infants were anemia. There was no statistically significant association between 6 months exclusive breastfeeding and anemia. Sex, weight andheight were also not significantly associated with anemia.Conclusions: There was no a statistically significant association between anemia and 6 months exclusive breastfeeding. The prevalence of anemic infants in this area was 34.3%. It was a moderate severity of public health problem classified by WHO that should be concerned and planned for strategic improvement.
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