Objective: To understand the prevalence of anemia and its related risk factors among 2-5 year-old children in Chinese poor areas.
Methods: 5927 children aged 2-5 years old in poor areas of 30 counties in 13 provinces (autonomous regions or municipalities) were randomly selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling. Designed questionnaires were used to collect personal information and feeding behavior; and hemoglobin levels were tested.
Results: The prevalence of anemia in children aged 2-5 years in poor areas was 22.4%. The prevalence peak of anemia was in 5-5.9 age group and the distribution of anemia among different areas was significantly different. The result of non-conditional Logistic regression analysis showed that anemia was related to some factors, including weaning time, having breakfast or not, number of people dining at home, education level of mother, the frequency of children having meals at home and family annual per capita income.
Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia of 2-5 years old children in poor areas of China is quite serious and more consideration should be given. Anemia is closely related to feeding conditions and feeding behavior. Taking specific measures to develop anemia prevention and intervention programs are necessary.